The Masters
by Sub-Zero MKA
Summary: To fight and defeat a team like the Avengers, one needs not just power, but numbers. The Avengers have been put on notice and are up against the greatest threat they have ever faced. Reviews will be kindly appreciated. Based in Movie Universe.
1. Brightness Before the Dusk

_**Brightness Before the Dusk **_

Another day, yet another tough, arduous battle for Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the Avengers. Today, they got the call about a swarm of giant wasps and ants the size of compact cars that were tearing up downtown Houston. It didn't help that SHIELD lowballed just how many there were.

When they arrived on the scene, Iron Man and Thor were immediately engaged by almost a hundred of the massive insects, while a hundred more attacked the other Avengers street level.

Hawkeye did his best to weave around the near constant onslaught of buzzing bastards while Black Widow tried to shoot them down. She managed to do so more often than not, but given the damage the buildings were taking when she missed due to the bugs' quick reflexes, more often than not wasn't good enough.

Even still, thanks to Thor's lightning and Spider-Woman's bioblasts, plus Scarlet Witch's hex bolts, they prevailed in the end, with the city only suffering minimum damage. A good day, considering just how badly it could have gone.

Pietro Maximoff, or Quicksilver as he preferred to be called on missions, was the first to reach the sofa of the living room on the common floor of the Tower, and thus staked out the most room. Just as he was about to kick his feet across the sofa, his twin sister Wanda plopped down beside him. She smirked at his quick glare and said, "Now, now brother, would you really rather not sit next to you dear sister?"

He sighed and flashed a grin. "Of course. You make a comfy foot rest." He kicked his feet up on her thighs and sighed comfortably, much to her annoyance.

"Well," Tony said after taking off his battered suit, "I think I speak of everyone when I say I need a drink after that one."

"You're certainly speaking my language there, mate," Agent Jessica Drew, also known as Spider-Woman, said cheerfully. She grabbed a glass and poured herself and him a drink. "Cheers to victory."

Before their glasses clanked, he winced and pulled his back. "Yeah, about that, something occured to me during the battle." That gained everyone's attention. "Well, besides the fact that giant wasps and ants are pretty freaking weird and outta nowhere, it makes zero sense that our best shot is stuck behind the pilot's wheel. I mean, no offense Tasha, but your no Hawkeye." He shrugged and took a hearty swig.

"What exactly are you suggesting," Natasha asked in a level tone. "This has been our deal for a while now. He pilots, I shoot, since he's the only one who can pilot the jet."

"Yeah, I wish it were different, but SHIELD doesn't really have any pilots to spare. Especially since there's a crisis every other day," Clint added with a shrug.

"Who said we had to use a SHIELD pilot?" Bruce inquired. "I don't see why we can't just find and pay a civilian pilot. Tony, don't you know someone in the Air Force?"

Tony smirked and took another swig of bourbon. "Yep, my best friend Rhodey. I'll give him a call in a few. Listen you guys," he turned to the redheaded spy and the assassin, "Don't take this the wrong way. I know you two –"

"Trust me, it's nothing," Natasha cut him off, "I'd rather be out there with you guys than cooped up in a Quinjet." She looked at Clint, who silently agreed.

"Then that settles it," Steve said, "Tony, call your friend and see if he can come pilot for us, or at least if he can spare someone. If not, I'll talk to Fury after our debriefing tomorrow about it."

Tony nodded and walked out to the balcony to make the call.

"You know what sounds bloody good right about now," Jessica asked, "a nice, hot bubble bath. See you lot later." She placed her glass in the sink and headed for the elevator.

"Since you're announcing it, mind if I join you," Clint joked, only to receive double smacks upside the head from Wanda and Natasha and a glare from Steve to boot. "What? I was joking, guys. Put the pistols away, sheesh."

"Excuse me while I refuse to find your 'humor' amusing, Clint," Wanda said.

"Hum, a shower does sound nice, though. See you slowpokes later." Pietro got up and quickly followed Jessica to the elevator. Wanda just as quickly got up and followed after him, stating that she had better make sure he was actually going to take a shower.

Steve chuckled and watched her leave. His eyes lingered on her vanishing frame all the up until she was completely hidden by the elevator doors. He sighed tiredly and turned back around, only to find that Bruce, Thor, Clint and Natasha were all staring at him, all of them sharing the same half smirk. "What?" he asked nervously.

"Oh nothing," Bruce said, tone betraying not an iota of his amusement.

"It's just…you were about to stare holes into Wanda's ass, Cap," Clint explained. His and Natasha's smirks rose a single degree, while Thor flashed his usual godly grin.

"Aye, Captain. Your gaze followed our fair witch with the intensity of an Asgardian watchman. Mayhaps you share a bit of affection for her?"

Sometimes, Steve really hated how perceptive these guys were. He could do nothing but sink in his chair and blush. He had no explanation, because that was exactly what he was doing. Staring at his teammate like some pervert while she walked away. He didn't even know why; Wanda was more of a friend than anything.

Ever since Peggy had died a few months ago, he had been lost, a man without any hope of finding the right partner. He thought her niece, Sharon, might have been it, but he was almost immediately talked out of it. His friends claimed that it was creepy and weird to start dating his then deceased ex-girlfriend's relative. After a while, he agreed and gave that up.

After that, he outright refused to, as Tony called it, hit the night scene and hook up with one of the loose girls that inhabited those seedy nightclubs. It just wasn't for him, and no matter how much he explained it to Tony, and sometimes Clint, they really didn't understand.

They even suggested he just completely disregarded his morals and just have sex with the first woman he saw! They called it a one night stand. No matter what they called it, it was an utterly disgusting concept. One that Tony quickly dismissed as an idea when the first woman Steve saw was Pepper.

Steve smirked at the memory of the profanity laden threats Tony laid on him if he ever even thought of doing anything with Pepper.

"Hello? Earth to Capsicle." He looked up and saw the others, including Tony, all staring at him. He sat up straight and gave Tony his attention. "So anyway, like I was telling the others, Rhodey won't be able to do it, but he knew just the person for us and they'll be on the first flight here from Boston tomorrow morning."

To that, Steve cleared his throat and nodded. "Good. I'll tell Fury our plans in the morning." He got up and stretched his tired body. Most of the injuries he sustained fighting those ants had healed already. The only one that hadn't was a cut across his chest; but that one was well on his way.

One of the many perks of Dr. Erskine's formula.

Steve allowed himself a smile as he walked inside the elevator and pressed the button to his personal floor. The doors closed nearly all the way, and then reopened when Thor barely made it in time. "My apologies, Steve, but I must return to my quarters and call Jane. It has been almost a week since we have last spoken."

Steve gave a small smile and nod. He had to admit, he was envious of Thor's relationship with Dr. Foster. Even though he had never met her before, Thor talked about her enough for him to feel that he knew her personally. And when he did, it was like he was a different person. Thor was always a personable, friendly person, but talking about Jane gave him a glint in his eye that was unmistakable.

The same glint that Bucky said he himself had when he spoke of Peggy. It was love. Something that was a unreachable dream to him now.

He actually should go see how Bucky was doing. Ever since the Winter Soldier ordeal, Bucky had never been the same. He needed him now more than ever before.

"Steve?" Once again, Steve was too deep in thought to hear someone speaking, even Thor's not at all hushed voice.

"Sorry, Thor. Just too deep in my own head."

"'Tis not a good place to dwell at times, my friend."

He could attest to that, much more than he cared to admit. "Yeah," he replied with a sigh.

"It would be best to throw your troubles 'pon the shoulders of another. Two make the load lighter to carry, after all."

Steve could tell that Thor wasn't going to let this go, and they still had a ways to go before they reached his floor, so he relented. "I'll never find the right person for me, because she's buried in a cemetery," he said easily enough.

From the way he had his lips pressed into a thin line, he could tell he disagreed. Not that Steve was in any mood for an argument; his mind wasn't going to be changed. "Steve, I will not pretend to understand what you are feeling with your lost love. However, are there not two paths to every destination? Meaning, when one closes, is there not another you can take to arrive at your desired place, happiness?"

Steve breathed out a chuckle. He sometimes forgot that his friend was a god, and that his way of thinking and his logic was a lot different than his. It was refreshing at times like these.

"Moreover," he continued, "you claim you will never find your match. But I ask you, how can you find what you do not seek? You do not seek because you feel that your only path to happiness has died. Truly I say to you, though it may hurt, you must abandon that path, and tread 'pon a newer one."

Steve felt his shoulders sag at those words. While he felt, no knew Thor was right, he just didn't want to. He couldn't just abandon Peggy, not after…

After what?

"I know my words sting, Steve," Thor said quietly, as if reading his mind, "but none can claim that the words of truth are soothing. Keep this up, and you will live a cold life, clinging to a distant past and yearning for a future that is now impossible to obtain. That is no life to live, and I refuse to watch a friend tread it."

Steve really hated to admit it, but he was right. Every word Thor spoke cut him deep, and sank down into his very essence. Perhaps that was intentional, or perhaps not, but it hurt to hear. Then again, the truth hurt, and when it was what a person needed to hear for their own good, it hurt even worse.

It that was what he needed to hear, because he knew that was what Bucky would have told him, Howard, Peggy, all of them. All of the faces from his life, past life, would have said the same; just not as eloquently.

He had already accepted the Avengers and this crazy modern world as his new family and home; and with Bucky back, it wasn't like he was completely cut off from his past. It would take some time, but would, as Thor put it, abandon his current path and tread a new one. One leading, hopefully, to a life he felt he deserved.

The elevator finally reached his floor and dinged, although Steve suspected Jarvis somehow slowed the elevator down so he and Thor could talk without interruption. Steve allowed himself another smile and clapped his friend on the shoulder. "Thanks Thor. I really needed to hear that."

"You are more than welcome, my friend. What good is wisdom if you do not share it?"

Steve smiled again and walked on to his floor. As the elevator left, he stepped inside his penthouse suite and flopped down on the sofa. On the coffee table in front of him was a framed picture of him, Bucky, Howard and Peggy, all smiling brightly after another successful raid of a Hydra base. He picked it up and sat back. "Well. Guess this was going to happen eventually, right guys?"

* * *

**Undisclosed Location**

Not everyone was pleased when the giants insects were repelled. Somewhere, secluded from the rest of the world, their senders contemplated their next move.

"I told you sending those bugs was a waste of time. If we're going to strike the Avengers, we need to strike them were it hurts, hard. You should've sent me."

The one he was talking to turned to him dismissively. "Foolish ogre. You were dismissed by your adversary by himself; what would you have done against an entire team of heroes?"

A man in a hooded robe stood and interposed himself between to the two. "It does not matter whether today's test run was a success; it served its purpose well enough. Tomorrow, I will send the first message to our foes myself, and they will know that their time has grown short."


	2. It's About Sending a Message

_Disclaimer: I own none of these characters_

_**It's About Sending a Message**_

"What do you mean, 'new pilot'?"

It was bright and early Tuesday morning, much to Tony's chagrin, when the Avengers assemble in the main conference room of the SHIELD helicarrier for their debriefing.

Director Fury stated at the outset that he had a group of agents and SHIELD scientists working since last night to determine the origin of the giant swarm of insects that attacked Houston the day prior, and that he should know something within a few days.

With that piece of business out of the way, Steve thought it good to bring up their plan to find a new pilot. Well, not so much plan as just them having a new pilot flying in.

Fury, unsurprisingly, didn't like it. Tony seriously wondered if he liked anything.

"Well sir," Steve said, "we felt that it made little sense for Clint to have to fly the jet while someone else man the guns. He's our best shot, as you well know, and well the team agreed that he should be manning the guns."

"And also, having a pilot seperate from the team could shorten up our escape if shite hits the fan and we need to beat a quick exit, sir," Jessica quickly added. Steve smiled a silent thank you for the assist.

Fury sighed heavily. It seemed that he had aged almost ten years since this team came into existence. Who knew a team of superheroes was so difficult to manage! "I see. And while I agree with your points, SHIELD doesn't have any pilots to spare. I'm sorry but –"

"Aha, but we're already way ahead of you, Patches," Tony said, cutting off the director as only he could. "Hawky already pointed that out, and Brucey here came up with the idea of us finding a civilian pilot. I'll be paying him, of course." He smirked smugly, but it faltered when his eyes met Fury's utterly shocked expression.

"You actually thought bringing in a civilian into some of the most dangerous situations in the world is a good idea? Or even a decent one?" His voice was strangely, almost scarily calm as his gaze fell upon the good doctor.

Bruce, despite having worked with Fury for almost a year, still squirmed uncomfortably in his seat. "I-it was just an idea I threw out. I didn't expect anyone to actually go with it."

"Right," he replied in a drawn out manner, "And since the rest of you think this is such a swell idea, let me ask you this: what if something happens? What it this person gets killed? Do you have any idea how much shit will blow up in your faces if that gets out into the press? Well, do you?" To this, they had no answer, exactly as he figured. "Didn't think so. Well, good luck."

"Wait, you're letting this happen, just like that?" Pietro asked. He immediately regretted asking once he saw Fury's face.

"Of course I am, Quicksilver, because I have no actual power in this relationship. I discovered a long time ago that if you all want something, you're going to get it. If you want to do something, you'll do it, regardless of the consequences. I don't even know why we have these debriefing sessions anymore, since half of you show up late, if at all," he very decidedly did not look at Tony Stark, "and half of what I do say, you dismiss, and the other half, you don't listen to.

"So, Mr. Maximoff, had I said no, you all would have done so anyway. Because, to quote that pain in the ass brother of Thor's, you all do what you want."

"How do you know that, Patches? Last I checked, you can't see into the future."

Fury looked down at Tony, and then flicked his gaze over toward the twins at the end of the table before standing from his seat. "Because, Mr. Stark, those two wouldn't be here right now if I had my way." Even with his back turned, he could tell Wanda was getting ready to retort. "And before you even start, yes, I am fully aware of the good you two have done. I never said not doing what I asked was always a bad thing."

"You only implied as such," she said quietly. "Is that all? Or do you have any orders for us to disregard?"

He rolled his eye and turned to a console. "No, that will be all. But I am serious. No amount of good press will make this go away if something goes wrong." And with this team, things usually did go wrong.

The Avengers filed out of the conference room silently, Fury's words weighing heavily on them. Why did such a simple thing have to be so consequential?

"So, am I the only one thinking that this is a bad idea?" Clint chimed as they strapped into the Quinjet and prepared to take off. It seemed that he spoke for all of them, as they all nodded their heads.

"Well, yeah. But when has that ever stopped us?" Jessica asked, flashing a cheeky grin that earned a few groans. "Oh come on, guys! It's not like we're picking up some sod from off the street. This is a highly trained Air Force pilot, who's probably been in some pear shaped situations in his time. I've no worries."

Steve sighed heavily, but not for the reasons the others thought. Hearing Jessica talk in that fantastical accent with all of those strange sayings just hurt so badly, because they all reminded him of Peggy. He hadn't forgotten what Thor told him, but it was going to be a lot harder than he thought, which was saying a lot.

He sighed and leaned his head back against the wall of the jet. He couldn't even close his eyes, since images of Peggy kept creeping up on him. Why couldn't he just stop thinking about her, even for a few seconds?!

"By Odin's beard!"

Steve jolted to attention after Thor's humorous exclamation. He looked to find Thor gazing out of one of the windows, his expression etched with disbelief. Steve's own eyes followed his gaze, and he couldn't believe what they were showing him. Below, circling around one of the buildings, was an actual massive, green skinned dragon. With wings, and fire breath and everything.

Steve continued to watch, wondering what else he'd see in his lifetime when he heard the jet's back hatch being opened. He turned just in time to watch Thor, a suited up Tony and Jessica carrying Wanda all jump out and fly over.

It was times like this that Steve wished he could fly, or be useful. Then he remembered the people on the street. "Clint," he barked, entering full leader of the Avengers mode, "stop street side and drop me and Pietro off. Then swing back around over the creature to so Bruce can jump out. Then give that thing every last thing thing you got."

"Got it, Cap." Clint dipped the jet downward and began descending to the ground below.

"Natasha, call Fury and have him send help, if he hasn't already. Pietro, you and I are on crowd control. Bruce…"

"Yeah, got it," he said as he took off his glasses, shoes and shirt, leaving him only in the stretchable pants Tony made for him. The jet reached the ground soon and Steve and Pietro quickly exited and went about directing the people to safety.

Above them, the skies darkened menacingly as Tony peppered the beast's hide with repulsors and missiles, with only some consequential effect. Lightning lit up the sky and crashed down on the creatures back, which managed to do only slightly more damage. Wanda landed safely on a building across the street and fired a massive hex bolt, striking its hind legs and causing them to lose their grip on the building. It faltered just enough for, "HULK SMASH!" An angry green blur crashed into its jaw, sending it falling to the streets below.

Pietro had to jump out of the way to avoid getting pinned underneath its tail. He couldn't believe how massive it was, even discounting that dragons technically weren't suppose to exist. "What the hell is going on?! Where'd this thing come from?!" he yelled into his comm.

"No clue, Speedy," Tony quickly responded before dodging a ball of fire. "Gah! Someone tell the overgrown gekko that we don't want car insurance!"

"Tsk. I think you're slipping, love," Jessica teased. She weaved around its slashing claws and gave it two eyefuls of bioblasts. It roared out in pain and swiped blindly at the air. Hulk continued to pound its face into the ground, only to be swatted away by a blurry claw. A red light engulfed Hulk, and he bounced harmlessly off of the building that he would have otherwise crashed through.

Wanda fired more hex bolts to keep it at bay while Jessica fired more bioblasts, only to nearly be caught in a stream of fire for her efforts. It wasn't as if it was working anyway, since the dragon's scales were just too thick. Not even the stream of .50 caliber bullets the Quinjet was unleashing showed much in the way of results. "Where the bloody hell is SHIELD when you need them?!"

"They're scrambling some jets, but there's something wrong with their systems, so its probably just us," Natasha replied calmly through the comm.

"Great. That's bloody fantas– Crap!" she responded before being cut off by having to duck its massive tail.

Meanwhile, Pietro and Steve did their best to direct the understandably terrified civilians away from the battle. With the former's vast speed and the latter's calming authority, they managed to get most out of harm's way. Except for one, a man in a dark cloak that was standing at the far end of the block. He had a hood over his head, but it was clear that he was watching the battle intently.

Something about his demeanor, even from the distance separating them, made Steve feel uneasy. He started to make his way over there to tell him to leave, but something made him think otherwise.

"Alright, fuck this bullshit," Tony gritted out. He slipped underneath the dragon and fired his laser at its softer underside. The beast roared as its underside was split open, spilling its internal organs over the street. Finally, Thor, who had been biding his time until the right moment, grabbed the creature by the tail and hoisted him into the air.

"I will not allow you to cause destruction anymore, creature!" he bellowed. He pointed his hammer toward the heavens, and grunted as lightning struck the hammer, passed harmlessly through him and carried over onto the creature. It roared and cried out in pain, its limbs flailing spastically before it went limp.

Thor let it fall to the ground, where it landed with a loud thud.

"Hooray! We won! Good job, guys," Tony said as he, Thor, Jessica and Wanda all touched down besided the seemingly dead creature.

Hulk crashed down beside them a few seconds later. He sniffed at the beast and growled warily. "Big lizard dead?" he said, as only he could.

"Yep, seems that way, buddy. Come on, gang, its schwarma time!"

The others groaned as the Quinjet quietly hovered overhead. "Tony," Natasha's voice chimed through the loudspeaker, "it's not even noon yet. It's too– Look out!" Before the others could comprehend, the beast roared and stood tall, its injuries all seeming to have healed already. It glowered down at them and opened its mouth to rain fire down upon all of them.

"Enough!"

They, including the dragon, all looked at the man in the cloak that Steve saw from before. He snapped his finger, and the dragon vanished in a flash of light. "I think that a good enough message has been sent. But in case you didn't get the memo…"

He raised his right hand casually to reveal that it was adorned with five elaborate rings. The one on his index finger glowed, and the Avengers were subjected to a deafening sonic blast. Windows shattered on both the buildings nearby and the Quinjet as they all fell in a heap, clutching their heads tightly. Clint, while he was clutching his head, lost control of the jet and it crashed onto the street.

To say it was terribly painful was an understatement. Even still, the Hulk was the first to wobble to his feet. The high pitch whine of the blast, combined with no longer being able to hear, made his angrier. He lunged forward, only to be caught in a blue beam, trapping him in a block of ice.

Steve screamed out, both out of pain and frustration that he hadn't done something when he first saw the man. He gritted his teeth and crawled to his knees. He had fought Nazis, Hydra, gods and aliens. Like hell if he was going to let some loon with fancy rings take him out!

"Jarvis, noise cancellers! Now!" Tony roared. The suit complied and Tony let out a relieved sigh, but was disturbed when he didn't hear it. Great, now he was deaf. This bastard was going down hard!

Tony stood tall and faced the cloaked man, and immediately fired his repulsors at full power. Much to his shock, the same ring glowed again, and his arms jerked upward of their own volition, causing the beams to fire harmlessly into the sky. "What the hell!" Tony's boots fired up, propelling toward the man. Suddenly, some irresistible force yanked him downward and crashing into the ground. His jets were still firing, so he ended up digging a near fifteen yard trench into the ground until he came to a halt at the feet of the man.

The man then shut off the sonic blast after an excrutiating thirty seconds. Steve stood and threw his shield with all his might, only for it come within five feet of the man and then go sailing down the street. Steve looked shocked, and then angry.

The man sneered at the rising Avengers, and then appeared to say something before disappearing in a bright flash of green light.

The Avengers all shared the same mixture of anger and confusion on their faces, even as the Hulk burst out of his icy prison, apparently roaring out of anger himself.

Whatever message that man intended to send had reached its destination; the Avengers were just put on notice. But of what, and by who?


	3. Naming the Lord of the Rings

_DISCLAIMER: I own neither Marvel's characters nor Aerosmith _

_**Naming the Lord of the Rings **_

Manhattan seemed to be on the tail end of pandemonium, for some reason. Traffic was backed up for blocks for almost two hours, in ninety degree heat. The sidewalks had been jammed packed with screaming people, all stampeding in the same direction; though that had calmed down quite a bit as time passed. Police were standing in the middle of the streets, trying to no avail to direct traffic away from downtown near Stark Tower.

Exactly where retired Air Force captain Carol Danvers was heading.

She sighed and slammed her head into the headrest of her taxi seat. "Why? Why did the city have to go crazy today of all days?"

The night before, she had been at home in Boston visiting her family when she received a call from her good friend, James Rhodes. He told her that the Avengers were in need of a pilot, and that she was the first person he had thought of. She wouldn't admit it, but that made her blush like a giddy schoolgirl.

Anyway, he told her to get on thr first flight to New York first thing in the morning and meet them. So, here she was, stuck in a cab in the middle of thick traffic in the early July heat. With zero signs that the situation, whatever it was, was going to get better any time soon.

What an awesome start to her new career!

To make matters worse, radio had been playing that same teenie bop pop crap that passed for music nowadays, much to her disgust. It was really grinding her nerves and giving her a major headache. Couldn't they play actual music, like Aerosmith? She sighed again and hummed the lyrics to her favorite song to drown out the garbage coming from the radio.

_"We interrupt this program to bring you an update on the monster attack that took place just a few hours ago…"_

That quickly got her attention. "Hey, turn that up."

_"Sources and eye witness accounts say that a massive dragon, at least three stories tall, appeared from out of thin air at approximately 9:45 am this morning. It appeared about two blocks away from Stark Tower, again just appeared out of nowhere sources say. It was quickly engaged and subdued by the Avengers; and thanks to their efforts, there was no loss of life, and property damage was kept to an absolute minimum. Once again, our heroes are to be commended and thanked for their quick response and bravery in this event today. It could have been a tragic day had they not intervened when they did. We'll have more as it comes, until then, we return you to your morning music.'_

Carol sat back and took a deep breath. So that explained the massive traffic back up and the screaming people she saw earlier.

"Man, this shit is real," she muttered.

Nothing overtly superhuman happened in Boston, or in any of the other places she had been. She was used to dealing with soldiers with guns and jets and missiles, not gods and aliens and apparently dragons. This was a whole new level of weird; but not something she was readily willing to run away from.

She loved challenges, and loved overcoming them even more. Whether it was growing up as the only girl and not being expected to do much, or becoming the youngest captain in recent Air Force history, she rose and met them head on.

This was no different. Monsters and magic were definitely not things she was trained for, but why should that stop her? If two unpowered people like Black Widow and Hawkeye could do it, why not her?

That question bounced around in her mind as the taxi inched forward a few feet. At the rate the traffic was progressing, it was going to be a few more hours before she reached Stark Tower. She pulled out a pair of twenties from her wallet and handed it to the taxi driver. "Pop the trunk, I'm walking from here."

"Sure ya don't wanna sit around and listen to little girls sing on the radio?" he joked.

She chuckled and opened the door to the cab. She grabbed the white cage resting beside her. "Come on, Chewie. We're walking from here." The white cat inside meowed softly.

Carol really didn't appreciate the attention she was getting while she walked. It was more 'look at that smoking hot blonde', and not 'there goes on of the most well respected Air Force captains in the world'. Not that anyone couldn't at least guess military just by looking at her in her blue formal uniform. _'It's impossible to be both attractive and in the military, I suppose,'_ she thought to herself.

Despite that ogling, she found herself both awed and amused by the hero worship happening around her. On the buildings, billboards flashed images of all the Avengers in heroic poses, funnily enough as promotion for some useless product. The people she passed were more often than not wearing clothing bearing Avengers' logo, either the team or their individual ones, or clothing that matched their signature colors. She saw tattoos, cell phone covers, laptop wallpapers, all with Avengers related images.

"Look at all this Avengers stuff, Chewie. Do you think they'll make things with my name and face on them after a while?" The cat meowed irritably. She laughed and swayed the cage a little. "I know, girl, I know. It was just a little joke."

* * *

—

Meanwhile, Tony had been holed up in his lab multitasking between fixing his suit and trying to figure out who the man in the cloak was. Thanks to Wanda's magic, their hearing had been restored after that strange sonic attack. After that, she and Thor went out to investigate that dragon.

It wasn't everyday that dragons just popped up in the middle of downtown, so it shouldn't have been to hard for them to magic their way to an answer. Tony would readily admit he knew nothing of magic and had long stopped listening to her when she tried to explain.

"Hey J, run that first audio clip again and cross reference it with known audio samples from the last five months. I swear that voice sounds familiar."

"As you wish, sir. Also, I should inform you that Director Fury wishes to speak with you as soon as possible."

Tony rolled his eyes and turned back to his helmet, which had become all dinged and dented up when he suddenly became the world's richest trench digger. He also needed to figure out how he did that. It had something to do with those rings.

"I'll talk to him later. Too busy."

"As you say. Cross reference complete; 0 matches."

"Damn it. I know that voice from somewhere. Just can't freaking place it. Try a year, and use every available media recording."

As Jarvis did so, Natasha walked in. Tony spotted her and smirked. It was pretty hilarious to watch the usually graceful spy stumble about when her equilibrium was thrown all out of wack. Not that he'd say that out loud. "No word from SHIELD. They're just as clueless as we are," she announced.

"Of course they are. Oh, that reminds me; J, gather the rest of the team down here. The suit picked up something interesting. Oh, and call Fury, he'll want to hear this too."

"Thor and Wanda just checked in. They haven't found anything. No trace, no tech, nothing but rubble and damage to the buildings to show that they were even there. Which leads them to believe that magic is involved. Powerful magic."

"Fantastic," he replied, voice filled with sarcasm.

"It gets better." Tony wasn't sure if she was being sarcastic or not. "Wanda scanned the area the man was standing in, and she didn't detect any latent magical energies. What that means, I have no idea." She sat down, and let out a sigh that revealed just how defeated she was. It was only for a scant second, but he caught it. He was glad he wasn't the only one concerned about this. "I'm still not trained for this shit," she muttered in a humored tone.

"None of us are, except except those two," Clint's voice rang from somewhere nearby. The two looked around, but couldn't find him.

"Where the hell are you?" Tony asked. He let out a manly yelp when Clint dropped down beside him. "Can't you use the door like a normal person?!" he exclaimed, exasperated.

Clint grinned and sat down beside Natasha. "Nope. Where's the fun in that? Now what did you find for us?"

"Ah ah ah. Not yet, oh hawkly one. Let's wait until the others get here." No sooner had he said that, Jessica, Steve, Pietro and Bruce all filed into the the lab.

"Jarvis said you needed to show us something?" the white haired speedster announced. He leaned against an unoccupied wall and crossed his arms expectantly.

It took Tony a few moments to remember what it was he wanted to show them. "Oh yeah! The suit made an audio recording of our fight with the Lord of the Rings." He grinned as everyone rolled their eyes at the nickname. "What? It fits." Turning to a touchscreen, he tapped it a few times until it turned black with a single orange line running horizontally across the middle. "Fury, you there?"

"I'm here, Stark," the voice of Fury chimed through another screen somewhere, "what have you got for us?"

"This." He tapped the screen again, and the menacing voice of the cloaked man filled the room. _"This was only the first salvo, Avengers. You're end will be brought upon you by the hands of the Masters of Evil."_

Silence filled the room as the assemble group and Fury digested the message. Whoever these Masters of Evil were, they were meant to be taken seriously.

So of course, Pietro didn't. "Pfft. Can you get any lamer than this guy? Masters of Evil? What a load of –"

"Wait a second, now. This guy handed us our arses pretty easily, so I'd say he's no joke," Jessica said uneasily.

"And not only that, but he said Master_s_, right? That means there's a whole group of people like him, right?" Clint looked warily around the room, all eyes on him. "I'm just saying, we need to treat this like it's a serious threat."

"Come on!" Pietro insisted. "This guy sounds like more like a loser with a superiority complex than a villain!"

"Got that right," Bruce agreed, stifling a small laugh.

Despite the intended humor, Tony's face grew visible distressed. Suddenly, his head snapped forward. "That voice definitely sounds familiar."

"You think you know this guy, Tony," Natasha asked.

He didn't answer her and began to mumble under his breath. "Fluent English, Chinese accent, intelligent. Those rings look familiar, too. J, where are you on that audio cross-reference."

"41% completion, with zero matches so far."

"Forget that. Start the search around…March of 2006 and narrow it down to known audio samples from China."

"What are you thinking, Tony?" Steve asked warily. This whole Masters of Evil business had him pretty nervous. Not that he could let the team know that. Tony almost never took anything seriously, so him acting like this made him even more nervous.

Tony held his finger up to his lips. "There was this guy I know, who was arrested for stealing some artifacts from a research facility in China a few years ago. Doesn't sound like much, but the artifacts were said to be alien."

"And when he was arrested, the artifacts were nowhere to be found," Fury added.

"Exactly. But the guy escaped from maximum security prison somehow in 2008, and they hadn't been able to find him since. I wasn't the hero I am today, so I never bothered to help look for him. But, I was kidnapped by these guys named the Ten Rings. That guy had ten rings; the Mandarin character portrayed by Travis Slattery a few months ago had, I'm thinking, the exact same rings." He sighed and ran his hands through his hair out of frustration.

Jessica was about to say something when Jarvis chimed again. "Sir, auditory cross reference complete. The mystery man's speech and vocal patterns are a 100% match to –"

"Gene Khan," Tony finished. He slammed his hands down on the table. "Dammit!"

"So wait, that miserable git with the rings is the same guy as that washed up actor who we arrested last year?" Jessica queried.

"Yeah, and where do that dragon and the sound waves and shit come in," Clint mused, only half serious.

"Who knows," Bruce muttered. "So, we have this… Gene Khan person and his gang out to get us. Why, exactly? What kind of vendetta would a thief have against us?"

"And how the hell did said thief get an actual, real life dragon and ten rings, all of which I assume are magical?" Natasha added on top of the already confusing situation.

"And how did this thief manage to disappear into thin air like Stark before a debriefing meeting?" Fury said coyly. It actually took Tony a minute before he let out an exaggerated groan. "Don't worry, Stark. Tomorrow afternoon, 1 pm sharp. Fury out."

Steve sighed and sank into a chair. No matter how long he did this, it never got any less stressful. He looked around the room and saw the worried faces of his team. Even Pietro had begun to take this seriously. He was their leader, so it was up to him to guide them through this. "Let's take a break, guys. We've found out all we can, so there's no point in stressing ourselves out about this all day."

Thankfully, they all nodded and shuffled out of Tony's lab. Well, all except Tony. Steve also stayed behind, but didn't approach him.

"I should've known, Steve."

It felt a little unnerving to hear Tony call him by his actual name, as opposed to some half offensive nickname. It usually meant he was being serious, which never boded well for the situation. "About Khan? There's no way you could've know who or what he was."

"I get that. I mean, I didn't get a good look at them, but they looked like the same exact rings the 'Mandarin' wore during his broadcasts. If they could do all that all this time… Why didn't he used this power before, like back with Killian. He could've taken over the world with that shit. If he had this power, this tech, why would he team with Killian and basically be a figure head, a puppet, a mascot?"

"Tony…" Steve cringed inwardly at the curse but didn't let it show. "I don't know, and won't pretend that I have all the answers. Maybe the other guy didn't know about them and was just using them as props, who knows. But worrying about it now, when we don't have any leads, won't do us any favors. I'm not saying to forget about it completely, but take a break. At least wait until Wanda and Thor come back."

Steve actually held his breath while Tony looked to be thinking it over. He knew how stubborn he could be once he got his mind set on doing something. And he seemed pretty set on finding this Slattery right then and there. "Alright fine. But I'm eating schwarma and you can't stop me, Capsicle."

Steve smiled and shook his head. It didn't take long for Tony to get back to his old self. "Square deal. Food sounds good right about now."

—

* * *

Wanda and Thor had searched not only the immediate area where the battle had taken place, but also the two block radius. They hadn't found much; and what they did find, they immediately reported.

"And nothing still, my lady. Mayhaps this man is both a scientist and a sorceror," Thor offered as he cleared the last bit of rubble out of the street. With the street finally cleared, the traffic began to flow normally again.

The crimson clad sorceress shuddered at the thought. A man who had mastered both science and magic? What sort of conjurings could he bring about with his double edged expertise? "Perhaps. Or perhaps he is just more careful than most magic users I have seen. Whatever he may be, he is too dangerous to allow free reign for any significant amount of time. He must be stopped soon."

"Aye. I fear what next happening may befall this world whilst he is free to roam about." It was just then that Wanda saw something out of the corner of her eye. She whipped her head around, but saw nothing but people walking along the sidewalk. "What have you spied, Scarlet Witch? Is trouble afoot?"

Wanda shook her head and blinked in confusion. "No, Thor. I just saw something out of the corner of my eye, but didn't see anything." She began walking back toward the tower, mostly to clear her head. "Guess I was just seeing things."

Thor followed closely behind her, and kept turning his head to stay abreast of his surroundings. "Normally, I would believe you. But after today, you can never be too careful."

She sighed softly. "Yes, and that is what is most troubles me the most about what happened. I'm afraid that it wasn't some isolated incident, Thor."

"You feel we are being targeted by some malevolent force? The man with rings of vast power, mayhaps?" Thor, in his contant vigilance, spotted several people walking behind them in sunglasses. Normally, he would have thought them fans of theirs; but on that particular day, he was suspicious of any and everything that wasn't a known ally.

"Him, and whoever else he may be working with, if he even is working with someone else. God, I hate this. I can't even walk down the street on broad daylight without feeling something will swoop down and attack," she said with a weary sigh. She turned and saw a woman just as she was vanishing into an alleyway.

Her better judgement was screaming for her to check it out, but she didn't. She merely turned back around and continued on her way to the tower. It wasn't that she was afraid. Nothing really scared her anymore; the things that did would probably scare a lot of people. If there was something there, she would fight it if necessary. No, she was worried that the attack today was making her paranoid and reading too much into the innocuous.

She turned around suddenly and sprinted back to the alleyway where she saw the woman. Her cape flowed elegantly behind her until she came to a screeching halt. At the somewhat brisk pace the woman carried, she should be able to at least catch the tail end of the person, since it was just thirty seconds later.

When she came to a stop, she looked in confusion. There was nothing but the items and debris that would normally be in an alley up until the deadend. She cursed and pounded her fist against the brick wall beside her. "I was right. Thor, come quick!" Her mind was racing as paranoia slowly began to set in. There were a dozen different explanations for what she saw, or didn't see. It probably wasn't even related to the attack a few hours ago. It probably wasn't even an issue.

So why was she so unable to shake the feeling that it was all connected in some way; that it wasn't just an easily explainable coincidence? Her emerald eyes scanned the area and spied a ladder beside a dumpster. Without second thought, but after hearing Thor striding up behind her, she quickly scaled the ladder up to the roof of one of the building.

"Still nothing," she mumbled. Whoever it was was still there, she was certain of it. They were high up, and she was sure that a mere civilian wouldn't just scale a building for the fun of it. "Show yourself!"

"My lady, what is the issue that vexes you so?" Thor inquired, concern and tension in his voice. The gentle breeze that carried him higher than the rooftop flowed across her cape, giving it a gentle, but dramatic sway as she stood stoically. "I see nothing."

"A woman walked into the alley below, and climbed up to this roof. She is not far. Whether she climbed back down another way or is still up here doesn't matter. What does is that my suspicion was confirmed." Her hands glowed red for a brief moment as she lifted, and then dropped them again. For that fleeting moment, whatever mystical energies present became known to her. She felt Thor's massive presense above, but more importantly, she felt the same energies as the area where the man teleported away. And these were fresh, perhaps not even a minute old.

Thor appeared to also feel them, but strangely, his face looked disturbingly grave. "These magics are Asgardian in nature. Of that, I am certain."

Asgardian? She swallowed hard and thought the implications of that. The similarities in the energies meant that either the man himself was of Asgard, or was in league with one. Neither one of those possibilities was good.

"Now things are more confusing than before." She only knew of one Asgardian who could perform magics of this sort, and he was locked up tight in prison where he belonged. "We have found all we can, I think. Let's head back."

"Aye. Let us make haste and inform the others." With that, he gently wrapped an arm around her waist and took to the air with a spin of his hammer.

As they left, the woman Wanda spotted appeared out of nowhere and stepped out into the open. A sly smirk crossed her lips as her eyes followed them into the distance. She touched a comm link on her ear and spoke with a slight Russian accent. "I wasn't spotted, so good work. But it appears that by doing so, they have found out your involvement.… Understood. I'll set up shop nearby and wait for a good opportunity." Her smirk grew only a single fraction while she ran along the rooftops toward her target.

**Love it? Hate it? Review, so I can get better! Please? :)**


	4. Everyone Hates Magic

**Thanks for the follows, guys. Hope you all are enjoying the story so far :)**

_DISCLAIMER: I own none of these characters, just the plot they're suffering through_

_**Everyone Hates Magic**_

The rest of the Avengers were already settling down in the living room when Steve and Tony walked in. "Alright boys and girls," the inventor said, clapping his hands together, "Capsicle says we need to relax, so let's relax. Who's ordering lunch?"

"I'll order some pizza," Clint offered as he plopped down on a sofa, in between Natasha and Jessica. The latter threw her feet up into his lap while the former threw a glare her way.

Unfazed, Jessica asked, "Any idea when Thor and Wanda will be getting back?"

Not taking her eyes off of her, Natasha answered cooly, "They didn't say, but I'd bet they won't be gone for much longer."

Clint darted his eyes between the two lovely spies and flashed a slightly bemused took toward Steve.

Steve shrugged and tried not to notice the sudden tension arising on the sofa. He sighed silently and sank into the recliner Tony had so affectionately dubbed 'The Old Man Chair', since it was primarily only used by him. Fall asleep in a chair one time and guy could never live it down. He then watched the scene unfold carefully, ready to jump into Leader of the Avengers mode if necessary.

Jessica smirked and crossed her legs over Clint's lap. "Well, I reckon they'll be here in a few minutes, then."

"What makes you say that?" Natasha inquired, still having not taken her eyes off of Jessica.

"Because you said so. And of course, you know everything about everything."

She raised a single eyebrow in curiousity. "What makes you say that?"

"Because you know hot stuff when you see it, love." She grinned. "I mean, why else would you keep staring at me?"

Natasha narrowed her eyes into her famous Widow Glare™, the very one that made genius billionaires shake in their boots and purple archers second guess themselves.

Jessica, however, knew for a fact that the redhead wouldn't dare try anything with Steve right there, so she shifted her grin into a cocky smirk.

Unimpressed with her bravado, Natasha started to get up.

"Now, now, children," Bruce warned, "there's enough of Clint's lap for you both to share."

Clint wasn't sure if Bruce was saying that to quell the dangerous situation, or was just very subtly calling him fat. Either way, he bit back an anxious groan.

"I do believe I don't like sharing," Jessica stated.

"Neither do I," Natasha added quickly.

"I'll go order that pizza now," Clint said before jumping off the sofa and running out of the room. Pietro watched him leave and bit back a snicker.

"I don't know why you two fighting over Mr. Brood-and-Angst over there," he said as he nestled in between the two spies, "when you could be fighting over a real stud."

"Steve already said he wasn't ready to date anyone yet," Natasha answered smoothly with a half smirk.

He scowled at her for a half second. "I was referring to me!"

"You?" Jessica half chuckled, having already swung her legs back onto the floor. "You're a tad too quick where it counts for my tastes, I reckon. Besides, I don't think Wanda would like that at all."

"Nope, not in the least," Natasha agreed.

"She isn't the boss of me. I can date who I please, when I feel like it."

Natasha folded her arms across her chest. "Is that so, Mr. Scowls-At-Any-Man-Who-So-Much-As-Looks-At-Wanda?"

Pietro looked affronted by this verbal affront. "Not true! …okay, maybe it is, but she can date, if she wants." Natasha stole a quick glance at Steve. "I just don't have to like it. And I probably won't, since there isn't a man alive who's worthy of Wanda."

"You know, it's statements like that that give validity to the running joke about you two on the helicarrier," she replied with an amused smirk.

"Wh-what joke? What are you talking about?" Pietro actually sounded a little angry, much to her amusement.

"Natasha," Bruce warned again.

"Relax, Bruce, I won't say anything. It'd scar both of you for life, so don't worry about it."

He huffed angrily, but let it go, resigning to pick the remote and do a little channel surfing.

With the tension gone and forgotten about, Steve allowed himself a smile as he watched the team banter back and forth. It was times like this that made him more than a little glad that the past was the past. These people, with their kooky behavior, their weird quirks, their sketchy pasts and huge egos; this was his new family.

And he was okay with that.

Up until he wasn't. Because that small part of him that longed for what couldn't be was becoming more and more vocal as the days rolled by. Which was the exact opposite of what was supposed to be happening. The more he got acquainted with his team, the more he secretly longed for his old team, his old friends. Peggy.

"…isn't that right, Steve," he heard Jessica say. His head jerked up, eyes as wide as a deer in headlights.

"Uh, wait, what?"

"Just say you agree with me."

"Not until I know what you're –"

The familiar sound of Thor's boots landing on the balcony cut him off. He looked and was greeted by Wanda and Thor both striding inside purposefully, both of their faces carrying the same troubled expression. "My friends, we have urgent news."

This made Steve sit up even straighter than he already was. "You found something?" So much for rest and relaxation. He shared a quick glance with Tony and could tell the billionaire was thinking the same thing.

"Aye, and what we found makes this situation much more dangerous than it already is. While we were searching the streets, Wanda noted that she detected traces of magic around the area where the dragon appeared and vanished, as well as where the cloaked man we faced off with was standing."

Steve tilted his head downward in thought. He readily admitted that all of this magic business went straight over his head. Even the weapons Hydra made with the Tesseract during the war were more straightforward than the stuff Wanda enjoyed reading up on and using.

It was bad enough that he had to deal with monsters and gods and people in super suits, but now even the people he could normally just punch in the face could wave their hands around and blow up cities with glorified parlor tricks!

Bruce shook his head. "And you think that the Khan's powers came from magic?"

Wanda quirked an eyebrow as she sat down next to Thor in the unoccupied sofa. "Khan? Who's that?"

"Gene Khan. That's the name of the guy we faced off against," Tony replied. "We will also accept Lord of the Rings." He half smirked and sat down next to Jessica.

"Hmm, okay then. To answer your question, Bruce, I'm not sure. They could very well be magical, or just highly advanced technology. It's difficult to say without looking at them more closely. Also, as we were heading back here, I saw a woman who was following us, or so I thought. She headed into an alley that ended in a deadend, and when I checked it out a few seconds later, she was gone. Nowhere to be seen."

Clint returned to hear the this as he sat down on the arm rest next to Natasha "What was she, a ghost or something," he said as he started laughing.

"This is no jesting matter, friend archer," Thor said, voice threaded with graveness. "I sensed Asgardian magic around where the woman vanished. The very same Asgardian magic that I felt around where this Gene Khan was situated."

Clint stopped laughing and grew colder. "Is it –" he started to say before Thor quickly shook his head.

"Last I checked, Loki is powerless and secured in prison, surrounded by armed guards around the clock. That was last week, and Heimdall has told me nothing of an escape. But I shall leave tonight to make certain."

Hearing that brought Clint relief. The very last thing he wanted was to so much as look at that bastard, let alone fight him again. He shook his head. "If not him, then do you have any ideas who?"

"Mayhaps this Khan is an Asgardian that I have never met, or perhaps is in league with one. The latter is the more likely scenario, but as to who, I am uncertain. There are several magic users in Asgard besides Loki. To be technical, we all use magic. For example, the lightning I summon is more powerful than normal, earthbound lightning. It could very well be one of dozens of those who actually specialize in spells."

Tony nodded absent-mindedly. For all his knowledge, magic just wasn't something he could wrap his head around. His suits couldn't compensate for magic; if only all of these villains used tech. "Okay, so we have not only a guy with magic rings, but yet another Asgardian on the loose. I'm seriously considering getting you guys some locks for that bridge of yours, Point Break," he said, smirking but actually only half joking.

"Did you get a good look at her, Wanda? Maybe I can go out and look for whoever this person is if I can get a solid description of her."

"That's a good idea, Pietro," Steve agreed.

"Sorry," Wanda replied, shaking her head slowly, "I only caught a brief glimpse of her. All I know is that she has blonde hair, and there are thousands of women who fit that bill here in New York alone."

Her brother flashed a wide grin. "If I need to bring in every last one of them and interrogate them all one by one for hour after excrutiating hour, then so be it." Jessica rolled her eyes and smacked him on the thigh. "Ow. I thought I was too quick for you; you have no logical reason to be jealous." His grin somehow widened.

"What you call jealousy is actually a desire to not have you drooling all over the sofa."

Before he could retort, Tony jumped up. "Hate to cramp your style, Khaleesi, but that won't be necessary. Jarvis, patch into the Stark Tatical Imaging Satellite and pull up the imagery of the the block were Thor and Scarlet Witch were walking."

"The images you requested, sir." An image of Thor and Wanda midstride popped up on the screen.

Tony walked over and rubbed his goatee thoughtfully. He began swiping through them, throwing the ones he didn't need away until the one where a blonde woman in dark sunglasses, black jeans and boots and a red T-shirt appeared. He flipped a few more times, until the one where that same woman turned down an alley. "There's your stalker. Let's see…" He scrolled back and picked out the best picture with her face on full display and zoomed in. "And there's what she looks like. Huh, not bad. I mean, she's no Pepper, but…Red, you alright? You're looking a little unBlack Widowy right; that is to say, kinda scary. Not that you're not scary when you're being Black Widowy, but you don't look like this."

The others looked at the redhead, whose face wore an expression that was a perfect mixture of anger, hatred, and surprise. Three things that the Black Widow never showed. "Natasha?" she heard Clint whisper. Her head snapped toward him, all emotion melting into the standard Black Widow blank expression.

"I'm fine," she said simply, but curtly. They held each other's gaze for a few seconds, their eyes silently speaking what their lips couldn't.

Clint nodded, just as Jarvis spoke up. "Sirs and madams, I would inform you that Captain Carol Danvers is on her way up as I speak."

Everyone looked around, confused and wondering who that was. "Do we know a Carol Danvers?" Bruce asked the room.

"Not that I know of," Tony responded, never taking his eyes off of the screen. "Captain, huh? Capsicle, one of your people?"

Steve shrugged, not bothering to think that Tony couldn't see him. The elevator doors suddenly dinged and opened, and he instinctively stood as a tall blonde woman with stunning blue eyes and an even more stunning figure walked inside with pet cage in one hand and a suitcase in the other.

He wouldn't admit it if asked, but he did give her a once, no twice, maybe thrice over, until his eyes stopped at the medals pinned to her jacket. He smiled; it looked like she was an Air Force captain. He had heard that women were allowed in the military some time ago, and was very pleased to hear it. It proved what he had felt for a while during the war, namely that women like Peggy belonged on the front lines just like the men.

_Peggy…_ _Dammit! No, stop thinking about her, Steve! _

His thoughts were interrupted by Clint jabbing his very sharp elbow into his ribs. "You were staring," he whispered, much to Steve's chagrine and embarrassment.

Steve blushed and instinctively rubbed the back of his neck. "Um, I apologize, ma'am. You're our new pilot, right?"

"That's right. Colonel Rhodes called last night and told me you all need someone to fly you around. Well, I'm your gal." She smirked and casted her eyes around the room.

"Well ma'am, I can't say that I'm in disagreement with his decision. You look very capable. It's a pleasure to meet you, Captain Danvers."

"Likewise, Captain Rogers," she said with a bright smile that turned into a small wince.

"Oh, would you like to have a seat?" he gestured toward his chair. She nodded gratefully and strided over. Steve immediately noticed how confident she was when she walked, and couldn't help but find that attractive.

"Thanks. I've been walking for fifteen minutes because the traffic was so badly backed up and my feet are killing me." She took off her heels and rubbed one of her feet. "So, do the rest of you have names? Or should I just call it like I see it?"

"That won't be necessary, Captain. We already have enough Tony's running around here. I'm Agent Clint Barton, and this is my partner, Agent Natasha Romanoff. Over here is Agent Jessica Drew. As for the rest, you know Tony Stark; that's Wanda Maximoff and this is her brother Pietro; beside Wanda is Thor, yes that Thor; and last but most certainly not least is Dr. Bruce Banner."

Carol nodded her head respectfully to each in turn, and then raised a curious eyebrow. "Agent? Are you guys CIA, FBI, or…"

"Something else," Jessica answered with a coy smile. "We have a much wider reach than any of those suits. We would tell you who we work for, but we'd then have to kill you." Her smile dropped as her face became cold and hardened.

Carol honestly couldn't tell if she wss joking or not; the similar expression on Clint and Natasha indicated that she wasn't. Maybe. Either way, she quickly filed that but under do not ask.

"It's very nice to meet you, Captain, but you really picked a bad time to show up," Bruce said with a sympathetic half smile. "We're going through the starts of a major crisis here."

"Yeah, Wanda and Pietro are finally going through puberty," Tony smirked as the twins rolled their eyes in unison and turned away from the screen. "Also, we have a group of terrorists looking to kill us," he added, almost as an afterthought.

Carol craned her neck forward as if she hadn't heard him correctly. "Wait, terrorists? Are you serious?"

Tony scoffed and turned back to the screen. "Of course; I'm always 100% serious 50% of the time, except for the 45% when I'm only 78.88%, repeating, of course, serious. That's usually when I'm making fun of the human popsicle over there. And then I'm 0% serious the remaining 5% of the time. Like right now."

"Mr. Stark," she said sternly.

He threw his hands up in surrender. "What? You asked, and I told you. But to answer your implied question, basically, a Chinese terrorist named Gene Khan has cobbled together what we assume to be a group of villains to kill us. His group consists of at least him, a dragon, this lady," he jabbed a thumb toward the image of the blonde woman, "and an Asgardian. They call themselves the Masters of Evil, lame I know; and we have no idea as what their motives, plans or headquarters are. Comments?"

Carol sat in silence for several seconds. Terrorists, she had dealt with; that was no problem. Dragons? Okay, what the hell? And she didn't even want to know what an Asgardian was, or why one would even be here on Earth.

Her frown deepened. This was so much more intense than she first thought it was going to be. She thought she would get at least a few months before the heavy stuff started going down. "Well, it's a good thing I can swim, because I just threw myself into the deep end." She gave an amused chuckle.

"If you want to reconsider," Steve started, only to be cut off.

"Reconsider? Are you joking? This is what I live for. What kind of patriot would I be if I backed out of kicking some terrorist ass?"

"I like her already," Pietro said with a grin, with the others assenting with various degrees of affirmation.

"You're going to fit in just fine, Danvers. Hey Spidey, go and show her up to her room so she can get settled. There are plenty of empty ones, so just pick one."

Jessica nodded at the billionaire and gestured for Carol to follow her. They entered the elevator and leaned against the back railing. "You'll be up on the tenth floor, across the hall from me. That okay?"

"Sure, that's fine."

They stood in a comfortable silence, the only sounds being the elevator smoothly gliding upward and Chewie purring quietly.

"Cute cat."

"Oh thanks. Her name's Chewie. My mom got her for my birthday last year."

_DING!_

"Okay, here we are. There are four penthouses per floor. Mine is right over here, while Natasha and Bruce stay in the ones down the hall. Yours is right here, so go ahead and check it out."

Carol opened the door and couldn't stop her jaw from dropping. This place was bigger than anywhere else she had stayed, literally. It was as big as her childhood home, and way bigger than any of the quarters she had had during her time in the Air Force. She had never had anything this nice before. The walls were painted a deep red, while the carpet felt so soft and plush between her tired toes.

The view of the New York skyline from the mega sized window was breathtaking. "Awesome, isn't it? You've a master bed room with a king sized bed and another view just like this one, a walk in closet and a fifty inch flatscreen. That one right there in the living room is seventy inches. You have another guest bedroom, a full bathroom with just the most delightful showerhead fixtures you've ever had; a mini kitchen, washer and dryer, another hall closet, and a nice balcony for those late night gazings into the city."

It was too much. She let Chewie out, who seemed gracious to finally be able to stretch her legs, and walked into her apartment. Her new home.

"Tony Stark spares no expense, does he?"

"No, he does not. It's one of the things I love about him; he's more than willing to go the extra mile or two for his friends. He may act like a jackass, but you'll find that he has a real heart of gold."

Carol grinned and set her bag down by the sofa. She took one more look at the living room and nodded. "Oh yeah…I'm going to like it here."

* * *

Hours passed by and day soon gave reign to night. The city was quieter than it usually was. As its owner said, Stark Tower was a shining beacon in the night, the disgusting name representing everything wrong with America and its people shining brightly in the night sky.

The blonde woman from earlier stared scornfully at the building from the window of her modest hotel room across the street. She swept her hair out of her face and spat, "Америка превратила вас отвратительным, капиталистическая карикатура вашего прежнего, Наталья. Ты позор на родину.*"

She pulled out her laptop and smartphone and sat at the table that was resting by the window. Pulling up a text document on the smartphone, which contain a list of computer commands, she opened up a secured command prompt on her laptop and began typing.

Stark's infamous AI was impressive; his security system even more so. But, as with everything, both could be broken, and used against him. As she type command after command in, she smirked to herself as the backdoor her benefactor informed her of allowed her full, undisclosed access into Stark's system. She was his god, as far as he ess concerned.

As gloriously satisfying as it would be to toy with him and bring him to his knees right then and there, that could come later; she had one specific assignment. With access granted, she found and copied everything. Schematics to his suits, the Quinjets, the Arc Reactor, the tower, list of contacts to important people in regards to the Avengers, weapons details for the Avengers, everything.

Stark's thoroughness would be his undoing.

She smiled a satisfied grin and copied everything over to a flash drive, and then slipped that into her purse. She then stood and gazed out of the window, her eyes transfixed on Stark Tower. "Я не могу ждать, чтобы чувствовать пульс медленный и вашей жизни ускользнуть, Наталья. Я хочу наслаждаться звуком свой последний вздох навсегда.**"

She sighed and turned away. She grabbed her phone and dialed a number. "Hello. …yes, I have everything. …no, the backdoor was just where you said. They do not know a thing. …Understood."

She hung up and gazed one more time out of the window. "Soon, Natalya. Soon."

**Translation:**

*America has turned you into a disgusting, capitalist caricature of your former self, Natalya. You're a disgrace to the Motherland.

**I cannot wait to feel your pulse slow and your life slip away, Natalya. I want to enjoy the sound of your last breath forever.

**A/N: Hmm, who is this mysterious blonde woman that's gunning for Natasha? And how will Tony's data be turned against him and the other Avengers? Tune in next time to find out! **


	5. New Avengers and Old Enemies

**A/N: Thanks so much for the review! I really appreciate it!**

_Disclaimer: I don't the Avengers or any of Marvel's other characters_

_**New Avengers and Old Enemies**_

The midday sun shone brightly over the city of New York. The SHIELD helicarrier hovered overhead like a protective, well, shield, always ready to defend not just New York, but the world if necessary.

Director Fury and his right hand woman, Agent Maria Hill, strode purposefully side by side deep within the bowels of the floating base. It had been a full two days since the mission in Houston, and Fury had assigned a group of scientists to analyse the insect corpses and determine what made them grow to such a large size.

They entered the lab and were immediately greeted by a tall blonde haired scientists. "Director Fury. Agent Hill," she said.

Hill nodded while Fury said, "Dr. Morse. I'm told that you've found something."

She nodded and walked over to a console. "Yes sir. DNA analysis showed that they were just normal, everyday insects."

Fury raised an eyebrow, but show no further sign of disappointment. "Seems to me that being the size of a Honda Prius isn't a normal, everyday kind of thing."

"No sir. So we dug a little deeper and found that their DNA had been tampered with. By what, we aren't sure, but we're working hard to find that out."

He nodded and headed for the door, followed closely by Hill. "Keep me posted, Doctor." Once back out into the corridor, Fury sighed. It had been a long two days ever since the seemingly innocuous swarm of giant bugs attacked Houston. Ever since, it seemed that everything had gone to hell.

First, Gene Khan reappears after years of not being seen or heard from with an overgrown flying lizard. Then they find out that an entire team of terrorist, each potentially dangerous in their own right, was seeking to destroy the Avengers, and probably SHIELD, as well. And now it had been brought to his attention this very morning that not only was yet another Asgardian, who definitely was not Loki, as Thor confirmed, on the loose, but there was someone that may have been gunning for one of his best agents.

Fury sighed again and shook his head. If it was possible for things to get worse, he was sure to be in for a long foreseen future. "Agent Hill," he said suddenly, "any news on the wayward doctors?"

"You mean Pym and Lang? No sir. So far, all we have been able to determine is that they've both been kidnapped by a group with very high tech equipment. No trace, no witnesses, even the cameras over looking the scenes had been wiped clean of the entire event. But I think we can safely assume that they are likely being held in the same place." Hill paused for a moment, as if coming to a realization. "Sir, you don't think Pym had anything to do with those giant bugs, do you?"

"I don't think, I know. Pym's signature research is shrinking technology; ants are his calling card. SHIELD has been keeping an keen eye on Pym ever since he began his research in 1969. He's never been the type to pull something like this, so that leads me to believe that whoever kidnapped him and Dr. Lang wanted his technology for their own devices. Houston was merely a test."

"A successful one. We still haven't been able to shrink the bastards down for proper disposal. Any ideas on who kidnapped them?"

Fury's earpiece began to ring softly before he could answer. "Actually, yes. Talk to me, Coulson."

Agent Phil Coulson, who had just been cleared for field activity two months ago, was standing just outside the door of the Avengers' conference room. "Sir, the Avengers are getting a little impatient. And Stark is actually on time."

"Of his own volition, or did someone drag him out of the lab?" Fury questioned his best agent, with a small note of amusement that didn't go unnoticed by either Hill or Coulson.

"The latter, Sir."

"Thought so. We'll be there within a minute. Stick around, you'll want to hear what I have to say."

"Yes sir."

Fury hung up and picked up his pace. "You too, Hill. I only want to explain this to the key people once." She nodded and quickly followed after him.

Meanwhile, in the conference room, Tony was getting very impatient. It had been a whole two minutes since the meeting was suppose to start and Fury still hadn't shown up! He shook his head in disgust of this blatant disregard for other people's time. He had better things to do than wait on that one-eyed –

"Finally!" he exclaimed as the devil himself walked in with his two mooks, Hill and Agent. "Just show up whenever you like, Patchy. Not like any of us have anything better to do today."

"I see someone's proud of himself for showing up on time for once," Hill remarked with an almost invisible smirk.

Tony cocked his head back in surprise. "I'm always on time, Princess. It's just that my scheduled arrival time is later than everyone else's."

"Director Fury," Steve said in his Captain America tone to quiet everyone else down, "do you have anything for us?"

"As a matter of fact, I do, Captain. But first, you are?" The others directed their attention to Carol, who was wearing her standard pilots uniform and a pair of black Converse Allstars.

She looked up and stood, visibly unfazed that he was speaking to her. "Captain Carol Danvers, Sir. 412th, United States Air Force." She saluted and smiled at the appreciative look the three agents gave.

"At ease, soldier. And welcome to the Avengers. I'm Director Nick Fury, this is Agent Maria Hill and Agent Phil Coulson. If you need anything from us, go to either of them." He grabbed a small remote and turned on the screen behind him. Already queued up was a picture from a file of the same blonde woman that Wanda saw the day before. "Agent Romanoff, do you want to bring your team abreast of who this woman is, or should I?"

Natasha looked hesitant for a scant moment before her mask slipped back into place. "I will, sir. This is Yelena Belova. She's a countryman of mine from back when I was Natalya Romanova. She is the second and only other Black Widow in the world. She always had a grudge against me, to the point of becoming obsessed."

She paused and let a silent sigh breeze between her lips. She flinched slightly when Clint reached under the table and gave her knee a comforting squeeze. "She's been trying to kill me ever since I defected a few years ago. Even when SHIELD shut the Red Room down for good, she kept after me as a point of personal pride. She's dangerous; as dangerous as me, except she doesn't have a conscience, nor does she care what she has to do to achieve her goal. If she's with the Masters of Evil…"

She didn't even have to finish the statement for the others to get what she was driving toward. If the Masters of Evil had their very own Black Widow, their very own master spy and assassin, no one was safe. Especially if she was even half as good as Natasha was.

"Shit," Tony said, saying what everyone else was thinking. "Alright, clearly we need to watch our backs. She knows where we all live, so no letting your guard down. Like, even for a second."

Pietro cleared his throat and processed everything quickly. "Okay, am I the only one around here who thinks that this is all getting worse everyday? I mean, we have a guy with rings who could solo the entire team with ease, an assassin who can kill us all in our sleep and an alien magician who could probably, I don't know, turns us all into rabbits or something."

"Yeah, next thing you know, we'll have to fight some guy who eats planets for lunch or something," Clint muttered quietly.

"Try not to jinx us too much, Katniss," Tony sighed sarcastically. Clint clinched up and scowled at the billionaire.

"At any rate," Fury said, gaining control of the meeting once more, "we should be careful, all of us. A Black Widow is not to be to underestimated. Watch each other's backs. Moving on, we may have a lead on our two missing doctors, Henry Pym and Scott Lang."

For this, Tony actually paid attention. He had known Pym for years, and was highly disturbed when Fury first told them that he and his partner, Scott Lang, had been kidnapped a few weeks ago. He had vehemently expressed a desire to go look for them, but was eventually convinced that it would prove fruitless, as they could, literally, have been anywhere in the world. "Well, where are they? Do you have a team to go look for them?"

Fury put a hand up to silence him. "No, not yet, because this is just a hunch. A strong one, but one nonetheless. Yesterday, we said something went wrong with our systems, remember?" The team all nodded with various monosyllabic affirmations. "To put it bluntly, we were hacked."

Tony immediately put his hands in the air. "Wasn't me, I swear! I was with Pepper the whole time!"

Fury sighed, annoyed, and flashed a glare at Stark. "I know it wasn't you, Stark. It happened while you were all out battling the dragon. They hacked us, but took nothing of note, and left this." He turned a console in front of him around and showed the team a insignia that made Steve's blood boil.

"Hydra," he spat with so much venom that it surprised everyone.

"They're back, and they have Pym and Lang, I'm sure of it."

Steve got up abruptly and left the room. They were all surprised, but no one tried to stop him.

Fury watched him storm off and then sighed. "Let him blow off some stream. We have to find where they're hiding Pym. If they can weaponize his Pym Particles, all hell will break loose and we may not be able contain it."

"Way to go, Clint," Tony said irritably.

"What the hell did I do," Clint snapped back. The only thing keeping him in his seat was Natasha's hand on his thigh, which did not escape Jessica's notice.

"Your jinx, that's what. If you hadn't have said anything, then this wouldn't have happened," he fired.

"Are you clinically insane? How the hell can you actually blame this on me?!" he fired back.

"Well, you did say it was going to get worse with each passing day," Jessica said in an insanely reasonable tone, considering what they were talking about.

Clint wanted to say something, but thought better of it. Fury sighed again. "If you two are done… We need to quadruple our efforts to find the doctors. Hydra already has a multi-week lead on us, so we're behind the eight ball big time here, so get moving. Dismissed."

The Avengers silently stood and filed out. As they head for the Quinjet, Steve stood stoically in front of the window of the command center. His faraway gaze stared deeply into the Atlantic Ocean. The view of the ocean, shimmering softly in the sunlight, was gorgeous, but his gaze tunneled past it.

He could hardly believe that it had been over a year since he had woken up in the twenty-first century. He had sacrificed everything to stop the Red Skull and Hydra from destroying the east coast and taking over the world.

He went to sleep knowing that without Schmidt, Hydra would be no more. And now, seventy years later, Hydra had returned, and he felt sick to his stomach. The single biggest threat from a time long passed had returned. It was almost fitting, that two entities out of time had returned in modern times.

_How_, he asked himself. _How have they stayed under the radar for so long when SHIELD has been around since after WWII? Is the Red Skull back too?_

It was a legitimate concern if that madman was back. He didn't die; at least Steve didn't think. He had no idea what happened to Schmidt when he held the Tesseract; he still didn't. But his dealings with Loki and the Chitauri and the Tesseract this go around made him think he was still alive, somewhere.

And if that Nazi scumbag returned, Captain America would be there to face him off, to stand between him and the free world.

"Captain," someone called out quietly.

He didn't show how surprised he was that Carol was there. "Steve will do just fine, Captain," he replied, mostly as a way of acknowledging her presence since he didn't turn around.

"Carol will do just fine, Steve," she parroted with a small smirk. She stood shoulder to shoulder with him, and took a small bit of delight at only a couple of inches shorter than him.

"Very well." She noticed that he was standing very rigid, as if at attention in the presence of a General. He was also very tense. "You know, I devoted my entire career, all almost two years of it, to finding Hydra and destroying them. When I…sacrificed myself to stop the Red Skull, I went to sleep knowing I had put a stop to them. That the free world was safe from those madmen. And now, I find that they're still around and kicking."

His voice was so low that Carol could barely hear him. She frowned and looked at of the window with him. "Yeah, we learned the bare basics in high school history. I don't know all the details, but things like them have roots everywhere."

"Cut off one head, two more take its place," he said, quoting the spy he had capture all those years ago. The fanatical glint in the man's eye before he killed himself was still etched in Steve's mind. Him, and all the others who killed themselves after capture. "These men have no sense of self-preservation, Carol. Devotion is the most dangerous weapon a man without sanity can have. If this new crop of Hydra agents are anything like the ones I faced, we're in for a bad time."

She pursed her lips and thought for a moment. "I've come across several brands of terrorists in my time in the Air Force," she started quietly. "I know that fanatics are probably a worse threat to humanity than the monsters that you all fight everyday. At least with them, you can pick them out like a green thumb. Things like Al Qaeda, the Ten Rings, Hydra, AIM, they look like us. They can act like us. You can't pick them out from every Tom, Dick and Harry from down the street until they blow up a crowded supermarket. You don't know who's an enemy until it's too late because it's not like they're wearing lime green jumpsuits or yellow beekeeper outfits whenever they walk down the street."

Steve listened and nodded with each word she said, steadily feeling worse with each passing second. He knew for a fact that he'd be the number one target on their hit list; but it wasn't him that he was worried about. Just like with that spy who tried to kill that young boy to stop Steve from chasing him, he knew that they'd kill as many as necessary to flush him out. No one at the tower, or New York, or SHIELD, if their getting hacked so easily was any indication, was safe.

"But, we do have the Avengers. Overcoming impossible odds and seemingly unstoppable enemies is what you do. I mean, look at you. You pretty much single handedly stopped the Red Skull from blowing up the eastern seaboard. And if you could do that by yourself, then Hydra is right to hide from you and your team."

Steve turned his head toward her and studied her quietly. For someone so young, he assumed, she wasn't some wide-eyed youth who was speaking out of hero worship. He supposed the military had phased that out a long time ago. She, like he, had seen things and was speaking out of experience.

He smiled and faced her completely. "Yeah. But they've probably learned. And grown. Not that it matters; we do have a Hulk, after all."

She grinned and jabbed him on the arm. "See that's the spirit. When the leader's all gloom and doom, it makes everyone else nervous, right. Not saying you have to be all sunshine and lollipops, but please stop being so angsty. You have enough of that already with Barton. Speaking of, we should get back before he and Stark tear each other apart."

Steve quirked an eyebrow, but followed after her wordlessly. _I just hope we can keep our heads above water._


	6. Of Mice and Giant Men

_A/N: Writer's block tried to stop me, but I finally managed a decent chapter. Hope you all enjoy! :)_

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of these awesome characters_

_**Of Mice and Giant Men**_

After their meeting with Fury, the Avengers trudged slowly into the Tower, each one feeling as though the weight of the entire world was resting on their shoulders. Problem after problem had been continuously dumped on their collective, and individual, plates over the last few days. It seemed, however, that the fates decided to give them a reprieve when it seemed that villainy took a vacation.

With no immediately pressing matters at hand, Steve ordered that everyone take the day to relax and get their minds back into something resembling top form. One day without a crisis of some sort turned into three, and soon the team was back in better spirits. They soon after got back to work on the various matters at hand.

Tony and Steve took it upon themselves to find out the whereabouts of Dr. Pym and Dr. Lang and confirm whether or not Hydra had really taken them. It took only a little bit of digging to find out that Pym was working on a secret project for Van Dyne Industries, so they decided to start there.

"Alright, listen up, Spangles," Tony said as he drove his favorite Porsche down the highway en route to New Jersey, "the person I've called and asked to speak with us is a personal friend of mine, so try not to embarrass me with your square ways."

Steve rolled his eyes and continued to scan the files he received from SHIELD on Van Dyne. The research they were delving into, while far too complex for him to really grasp, was interesting to read. Extraterrestrial communications, which seemed to be the corner stone, was really fascinating stuff. "I'll try not to be myself, then," he said drolly. He switched gears and began reading up on the employees. "Vernon van Dyne, right?"

"Nope. He's been pretty ill lately, I was told, so we're going to speak with his daughter, Janet."

Steve pursed his lips and looked up her file. A picture of a young looking Asian woman in a lab coat standing in a relatively messy lab appeared. Janet van Dyne, 26 years of age. PhD in molecular biology and a leading researcher into bio-electrical energy sources. She had been working for her father for seven months at that point and was in constant, close contact with Dr. Henry Pym for the majority. She served as an assistant on his secret project for a short time before mutually agreeing to discontinue.

"You keep intelligent company," Steve commented casually, to which Tony just smirked.

"She's pretty bright. She's also a little flighty; real drawback to being in a rich family; she's kinda selfish, and a huge flirt. Hum, can't see why we're friends." His smirk only widened as he pulled into a parking garage and parked in an open space.

"Sounds like she's your long lost sister. Is she aware that we're coming?"

It took all Tony had not to slam his head into the steering wheel. "No, Captain Blondie. I just decided to hop in my car and drive an hour through New Jersey just to see a person who wouldn't even be here otherwise."

Steve sighed and stepped out of the car. "I don't know, Tony. It sure sounds like something you'd do."

Tony was about to respond to this callous assault on his character when he heard the distinct sound of stilettos clacking across the cement floor. They both turned and saw a small woman, no bigger than Natasha, it appeared, walking toward them at a brisk pace. Tony smiled and held his arms out. "Janet, dear."

"Tony, darling. It's been too long." Steve watched Janet and Tony exchange kisses on the cheek. "Oh, and you brought me lunch, too; how sweet." She very openly looked the super soldier up and down. And he looks absolutely scrumptious."

It took Steve a full minute as they head through the door leading down a practically empty hallway to realize that she was talking about him. His eyes grew to saucers. "L-lunch? I-I…" He blushed furiously and leaned over. "T-Tony, I think this lady is a-a cannibal," he whispered too loudly.

"Hm? Oh, you're adorable."

"He's a virgin," Tony offered with a cheeky grin. Steve's blush somehow intensified as she led them in an empty office.

"Oh really? I love breaking new toys in. Here, have a seat."

Steve was certain that she meant him. He sighed and plopped down into one of the two chairs in front of the desk as Janet sat down behind it. He had to admit, she was very pretty, more than pretty, but way too forward with her… preferences. It was fairly jarring, since none of the Avengers ladies were like that, and he had only heard of women like her.

"So, you wanted to talk about Hank and Scott, right? The last I saw them was…about three and a half weeks ago. They were working on their project, and I was working on mine, so we hardly ever saw each other; but yeah, the last I saw them was three and a half, four weeks ago over in Lab 6. He told me that he had made a big breakthrough and that he was going to give a full report to dad on it in the morning. Almost a week passed and dad still hadn't gotten it, but I assumed he had just forgotten to give it to him or something. Didn't even know he and Scott had been kidnapped until almost a full two weeks after that."

This gave Steve pause. "You mean to tell us that you didn't notice that someone, whom I assume it quite the workaholic, was missing until a full two weeks later," he questioned, eyebrow raised and voice skeptical.

"Hey, I did say that we rarely saw each other. I just assumed that he and Scott were working late, after I had already left, and were just sleeping in during the day time. Besides, once you get in the groove, you tend not to notice things. One time, I stayed up working for, like, three days straight on nothing but coffee and laffy taffy. Noticing who isn't there that should be is a tertiary concern, honestly."

Given how Tony could spend days, almost weeks on just pastry cakes and coffee during his lab frenzies, Steve was sure she was telling the truth. He looked at Tony, who was busy fiddling with his phone. "Tony?"

Tony frowned heavily. He had been hacking into the building's security cameras, just because he could, to find the footage of Pym and Lang being kidnapped, but the feed from three and a half weeks ago had mysteriously been wiped clean. He muttered idly and hacked into the security servers.

"So, do you have a name, handsome?"

"Hold that thought, Shortstack. Look at this, Capsicle." The video feed showed two men, one with graying golden blonde hair and the other with reddish blonde hair walking through the parking lot. It appeared that the older man was carrying a black briefcase in one hand and what looked like a silver helmet in the other. They were about to reach a car when a black van pulled up beside them. Half a dozen people, all wearing black and dark green body armor and armed with large guns, grabbed them and threw them into the back of the van. One of the assailants pulled out a small device and pointed it at the camera for a few moments before hopping in the van and driving away. "Did you catch the logo on their shoulders?"

"Hydra. Fury was right."

"What are you two talking about? What's Hydra and who's Fury? Do you two know where Hank is?"

"Alright, Janet, slow down a minute. We –" Tony stopped suddenly when a newspaper clipping taped to the wall behind her caught his eye. It was an article on Dr. Pym and how most of his research involved using ants. He then remembered seeing ants during the attack in Houston. Giant ants. It was a hunch in the middle of being properly formed in his head, but he jumped on it anyway. "Janet, what was Henry's super secret project on?"

"Come on Tony, you know I can't tell you that. It's classifi–"

"We don't have time for this, Janet! Just tell me," he snapped. "Did it have anything to do with giant ants?"

She hesitated for a moment, then sighed. "Fine. No, no giant bugs. But he was working on a way to communicate with them. He had Scott help him develop a helmet that let him talk to bugs."

"Ants and wasps?" Steve asked, getting the idea on where Tony was going with this.

She nodded. "Yeah, that's right. He was testing the helmet on his ants and my wasps. He said it worked, but didn't have a great range or something. Wait, wasn't there a giant bug attack in Texas a few days ago? …you don't think Hank had something to do with that?"

"I know Hank was behind it, but not willingly. What else was he working on?"

She frowned and hesitated again. "He called them Pym Particles. He said that if someone was exposed to them, that person would be able to shrink to microscopic size…and grow to giant sizes."

Steve frowned. It was all coming together. Hydra kidnapped Pym and made him make these Pym Particles for them to weaponize. The show in Houston was a test, or a taunt. Either way, Pym's experiment worked. "Have these Pym Particles been tested on humans?"

"No, handsome. Hank was adamant that it wasn't ready for human testing yet. That was four weeks ago, so I guess if he's been working on it since, it should be."

Steve and Tony shared a glance, both thinking the same thing. If the incident in Houston was a test run, then it wouldn't be much longer before they had to face off against giant humans. Possibly within a few weeks. "We need to find their base," Steve stated. "And you should come with us, Ms. van Dyne."

"No way. I have too much work to do. Besides, I –"

"It's your work that's the problem," Tony interrupted. "You're researching converting bio-electrical currents into a biological energy source, right? If Hydra gets their mitts on that, combined with Pym's work…" He trailed off as her expression changed from defiant to thoughtful.

She sighed and ran a hand through her jet black hair. "OK, fine. I'll just pack up and leave everything behind while whatever this Hydra thing is chases after me for who knows how long." She huffed irritably and began to pack her things.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but this is for your own good. Hydra already has a head start on us. Besides, it shouldn't be for too long; just until we can put a stop to whatever they're planning." He smiled apologetically and glanced at Tony, who shrugged and headed out.

* * *

A few minutes later, Tony was speeding down highway back to New York, with Janet riding in the back seat. "Spangles, call Fury and tell him to meet us at the tower. I'm almost positive Patchy knows everything we've just learned."

"If that's true, then why didn't he say something days ago? Not that it would've helped at the time."

"Too stressed at the time. Knowing that we're possibly a week away from an army of giants…yeah."

As Tony weaved recklessly through traffic, Steve casually looked out the window beside him. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Yet another problem had been piled on. Any more and they just may crack from the pressure.

He shook his head and pulled out his phone. They couldn't crack; because the world would quite literally end if they lost their nerve and failed to protect it. These people needed them, and they needed to keep it together.

"Fury, Rogers here. You were right about Hydra having Pym. Right now, we're heading back to the tower from New Jersey, and we have Janet van Dyne with us."

He heard Fury let loose a weary sigh. "van Dyne? Why?"

"Her research was on harnessing bio-electricity and converting it into usable energy within the body. We figured Hydra would want that."

"I agree. Bring her by the carrier and I'll have her placed under around the clock protection until we get Pym and Lang back and put a stop to Hydra."

"Okay, thank you sir." Steve hung up and breathed out a sigh of relief. That was one load off of their shoulders. With Janet under protection, they could concentrate on finding the Hydra base where Pym was and rescue him before they could apply his formula to humans.

And Steve was confident that that was what was going to happen. He was certain that Hydra wasn't close to exposing humans to the Pym Particles, since they had just had a successful test run on insects a few days ago. And even if he was wrong, there was no way that it was going to happen before they got Janet to safety. "Fury agreed to give her around the clock protection." He heard Tony sigh with relief as well.

"Okay, so does someone plan on telling me what this Hydra is?"

"You should remember that from history class, Janet," Tony chided playfully. "Unless you were distracted for some odd reason." He grinned when he looked in the rear view and saw her annoyed expression. He also saw what looked like a jet black aircraft flying in the distance. "Hydra is a very advance, very dangerous international terrorist organization, if they're anything like their WWII predecessor. This guy," he pointed to Steve, "can tell you all about them." He looked again and saw that the same aircraft was flying in their direction, but was still a ways off.

"Oh can you? Are you some kind of history buff or something?"

Steve chuckled nervously, both from having Janet's attention squarely on him and from seeing Tony constantly glance in the review. "Not exactly. First, my name is Steve Rogers, and Tony says I can tell you all about them… because I fought against them back on WWII. …I'm Captain America."

Janet was quiet for almost a full two minutes.

"I think you blew her mind, Capsicle." Steve allowed himself an amused grin before yelling out in surprise. The car they were riding in, as well as the cars around them, was suddenly caught in a hail of bullets that ripped through the roof and barely missed the occupants.

"Christ! What the hell is going on?!" Janet yelled as she ducked down and covered her head. Tony eyes peered intently into his review and side mirrors. The latter revealed the same aircraft carrier from before, with a large machine gun already busy loosing another volley.

"Shit! We got company! Hang on," he informed before suddenly swerving across two lanes of traffic to avoid getting hit.

"Dammit! That must be Hydra! Punch it, Tony!" Steve struggled to not slam his head into the window when Tony not only punched it, but also swerved in and out of traffic like a man possessed. The tactic worked in a bittersweet way; they avoided getting hit, but the innocent bystanders in the cars beside them were riddled with stray bullets. "Enough of this. Take the wheel."

Steve unbuckled and grabbed hold of the wheel as Tony shifted his was to the backseat. There was a red and gold briefcase on the floor. He opened it to reveal the pieces to his new and improved Mark 44 armor; like the Mark 42, but fully combat ready and fully loaded with all sorts of goodies.

Rolling down the window beside him, he shimmied out and onto the roof. "What the fuck are you doing?!" Janet yelled after him. He leaped off, and the pieces of the 44 flew after and attached onto him, coming to life in time before he crashed onto the ground.

"Let's see how you like a taste of your own medicine," he said before opening fire on the jet. It quickly veered left to avoid the gunfire. He gave chase, not daring to do anything else while they were so close the interstate. Steve, to his credit, immediately caught what he was doing and put pedal to metal.

"That guy's freaking crazy," Janet remarked in a not calm tone of voice. Steve, still a little too focused from the sudden attack and subsequent escape to speak, just nodded.

In the rear view, he saw Tony engaging the jet, his repulsors giving him a clear edge. Just then, the suit just stopped and fell out of the sky. Steve's eyes widened as he saw Tony fall like a stone and land in the middle of the high with a still audible thud. His heart leaped into his throat when the sound of horns blaring reached his ears.

"Dammit," he cursed. He intended to pull of onto the nearest exit ramp, but was distracted by the reappearance of the Hydra jet. "Dammit, I don't have time for your bullshit!" he cursed freely, his concern for Tony overriding his morals. He sped up even more, only to gape as a seemingly normal man leaped out of the open hatch, his trajectory putting him directly into the middle of heavy and frightened traffic!

"Oh my God," was all that was uttered between the two of them as they watched the man emit some kind of crackling white energy that sparked around his body like electricity and then begin to grow. First slowly, and then at an alarming rate, he grew, until he was well over one hundred feet tall. His landing shook the interstate and cracked the interstate. Tires screeched as brakes slowed all of the cars in front of him to a halt before they slammed into his feet.

His black and dark green body suit stretch and shimmered before it became accommodated to his new size. On his shoulders rested the Hydra insignia in dark green on black, proudly displayed for their worst enemy to see.

Steve was wrong. Hydra was moving much more quickly than any of them imagined.

"Oh my God," Janet repeated incessantly like a chant, her mind was just unable to come up with anything else. With more speed than his size would have suggested, the goliath reached down and snatched the silver Porsche off the ground. With ease, he ripped the roof off like a sardine can and plucked a shrieking Janet out like a delicate flower. Steve watched in horror; he was helpless, unable to think, let alone do anything to stop the behemoth man.

With his prize safely in hand, the Goliath dropped Steve like an old hotwheels. As he fell, he braced himself, but still slammed his head into the headrest and the steering wheel, almost knocking himself unconscious. His head was swimming and his vision was fuzzy; but he still managed to catch the giant place Janet in the jet before shrinking down and climbing in himself. "Janet…no…" was the only feeble protest he could muster.

The jet took off, flying North, Steve noticed from the nearby highway signs. Good; at least he had a direction as to where Hydra's base was, which was the only bit of good news.

_A/N: Hooray! Wasp and Goliath finally show up…kind of. Please tell me what you all think. :)_


	7. Not All Civilians Are Innocent

_A/N: To note, this takes place at the same time as the previous chapter. Also, thank you __**Thiveril**__ for the encouraging words. They mean a lot and I really appreciate them. :)_

_Disclaimer: I do not own these characters_

**Not All Civilians Are Innocent**

While Steve and Tony were in New Jersey, Pietro, Wanda and Thor got called away to handle a disturbance in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

The last three days had been hell for Pietro. He was inpatient enough as it was when they had crisis after crisis to deal with; during this sudden lull in the action, he was plain miserable. Each second felt like an hour that seemed to drag on forever before it ticked on to the next minute.

Not to say that he was ungrateful for the reprieve. He was glad to see the others, Wanda especially, enjoying their time off. He didn't like seeing her upset or worried, like she had been over the last several days. Whoever this Asgardian sorcerer was had her worried on a level he hadn't seen in some time. And there wasn't much he could do to quell her anxiety. He hated that more than not having anything to do for days.

"ETA's ten more minutes, guys," Carol said from the cockpit.

He sighed and leaned forward in his seat. "Does something vex you, my friend?"

Pietro looked up to find Thor giving him a concerned look. Which wasn't unexpected, given that he had been spending the last few days being sad and pitiful, as Wanda put it, not that he agreed. "No, just… glad to be doing something useful again."

"Indeed, my friend, I also grew tired of sedentary state we all found ourselves in. I protested that we should have spent that time finding the Master of Evil, but perhaps not doing so was for the best."

"Everyone certainly seems to be in better spirits," Wanda commented. "Especially you. But then, I know why you were moping around."

"I was not moping," he protested. "Is it so wrong for me to lament not having anything interesting to? I already have a short attention span as it is, and I– oh look, a bird. See, even sitting here on the way to a fight can't keep me interested."

"I believe they have a medicine for that. In the meantime, here," she handed him tablet she had been reading since they left, "read over the mission briefing. That should keep you occupied until we get there."

"Or put me to sleep." His eyes quickly scanned over the information, yet another curse of superspeed. Emil Blonsky, former British Royal Marine who was contracted by General Thaddeus Ross to apprehend the Hulk back in 2008. He became obsessed with the Hulk's power and sought to even up the odds. This drove him to be injected with not one, but two doses of Super Soldier Serum, as well as allow himself to be exposed to a serum containing Bruce Banner's blood. This cocktail transformed him into a massive, grotesque creature dubbed the Abomination. He was apprehended by Hulk, and taken to a special prison designed by SHIELD. He escaped by unknown means earlier this year.

Pietro frowned and handed the tablet to Thor. "If Banner fought this guy, then what are we doing here?" Obviously, he was referring to her and himself, since they were both certain that Thor could handle him on his own.

"Crowd control mostly," she replied. From the sound of it, she wasn't too pleased with it either. "Also, there will likely be civilians trapped in the wreckage that will need to be freed and helped. If we play it smart, this won't take long."

He glanced out of the window and saw what she meant by wreckage. As they entered Montreal's airspace, it could only be described as a war zone. Buildings laid in crumbled bits over the streets. Cars were either mangled piles of scrap metal or had been hurled into what building managed to remain standing. The air over the city was filled with the choking smoke produced by the raging fires that threatened to burn away what little untouched area that remained.

"At least we'll have plenty to do," he offered lamely. He followed his sister and Thor to the hatch.

"Good luck down there, guys. I'll be hanging out up here since there's no clear area for me to land," Carol said.

He nodded and opened the hatch. Out jumped Thor first, spinning his hammer around to slow his fall. Pietro wrapped his arm around Wanda's waist as they followed him, her magics surrounding them and allowing them to gently float to the ground.

As soon as they touched down, the sound of something large and heavy crashing through a nearby building made all three jump to attention. Purely out of habit, Pietro interposed himself between his sister and the incoming threat.

There was an explosion of bricks and glass, and something big landed in front of them. "Hulk! Where is Banner?!" It's voice was grating, like gravel being send through a blender. The dust cleared and they received their first good look at who could fittingly be called the Abomination. Slimy pale green skin stretched to the max over a mountain of protruding bony spines and muscle, even as its disgusting face twisted into an evil sneer.

Beady green eyes stared angrily at the assembled heroes. "The Avengers," he drawled out.

"Give up," Wanda demanded futility. "Come along quietly and we won't have to hurt you." To this, Blonsky laughed uproariously.

"Hurt me? No, but I'll happily hurt you." Without warning, he spread his arms out and slammed his hands together. The resulting force stumbled Thor and almost knocked Wanda back into a pile of jagged glass. Pietro caught her and vanished in a burst of speed, reappearing a few dozen yards away.

A disoriented Scarlet Witch groaned and reached her feet. "I hate it when you do that."

"It was either that or let you become a bug on a windshield," he responded, chuckling lightly at the face she made. He flinched as lightning began to crackle across the sky, and arched down on top of the Abomination. "I'm sure Thor can handle his own, but should we help just in case?"

"If need be, then do so, but we need to concern ourselves with the trapped and injured. Adding us into the fight will just endanger more people." Wanda tapped her comm link. "Thor, keep him in the middle of the street and within a three block radius. We'll back you up if necessary."

"Aye."

Pietro watched Thor battle with appreciation. He claimed several times to have over a thousand years worth of fighting skills. Watching the demigod engage the monster was like watching a growing thunderstorm begin its reign over the sky. Lumbering blows were ducked and dodged, hammer strikes were aimed in nerve bundles for maximum effect, lightning struck his back to knock him off balance.

"Amazing," he muttered quietly. An audible groan attracted his attention. "Hero time."

* * *

Abomination roared and tried to smash Thor into the ground. Thor deftly dodged and booted him into a pile of rubble. The monster turned and snarled angrily. "I wanted the Hulk, Asgardian!"

"Apologies, beast, but you will just have make do with me!" Thor said as his hammer smashed into Blonsky's jaw, sending him flying into an empty building.

"SHIELD transport and clean up is ten minutes out, so we have to hold him until then," Wanda said. Blonsky was already digging himself out of the rubble. Her eyebrows furrowed as she concentrated on her hex bolt. She fired and struck the ground beneath him. The pavement changed to muck, reducing his mobility to almost nothing.

"Have at thee!" Three hammer strikes had Blonsky reeling for a not insignificant moment. Thor took that moment to smite him with lightning. Blonsky rose to his hands and knees, breathing heavily, but otherwise only a little hurt."Stay down, beast."

"No, Asgardian. I have a job to complete." Blonsky smiled cryptically and launched himself forward. Thor blocked the punch that he threw, but the collision slid him back several yards.

"What do you mean job? Who are you working for?" Thor threw a left hook, which connected and sent Blonsky stumbling back. He tried to follow this up with a hammer throw, but he ducked under and drove his fist into Thor's midsection.

As the demigod briefly doubled over, he replied, "You already know. My employer already told you we exist. Face it, you can't match our might, Asgardian."

Thor faltered at the revelation, and barely ducked the massive fist aimed at his head. "The Masters of Evil…" He connected with an uppercut, which launched the Abomination upward into a dilapidated building. He took the brief reprieve to inform the twins. "My friends, Abomination is a member of the Masters of Evil."

"Somehow, that just doesn't surprise me," Wanda muttered. She waved her hand in the direction of a large pile of mangled cars that held a group of small children hostage. It changed into a flock of doves, allowing Pietro to carry the children to safety.

"Nor does it me," Pietro agreed. "But we can't worry about that right now."

"Agreed. For now, let us –" He was cut off by a fist slamming him into a broken building. He burst out and avoided the car that was soon hurled his way. "What are your plans; what purpose do you have for targeting us?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" he taunted before grunting in pain as the rebounding Mjolnir hit him square in the back.

* * *

As the two superstrong beings continued their slugfest, Wanda and Pietro had continued to find and rescue survivors and bringing them to safety.

A sigh of relief escaped Wanda after she levitated the final of six school bus that had been lodged into the side of a burning hospital out of the wall. There were no schoolchildren or drivers in the buses, and those who were caught in the eastern wing where the buses struck only had minor injuries, from what she could see. They may have very well been able to get out of this without any serious loss of life.

Pietro, for his part, was speeding down the street after dropping off an elderly couple and their granddaughter at the city hospital. It was times like this when he was glad he and his sister had joined the Avengers. Sure, the marketing deals, the TV appearances, the movies, games and such were nice; but saving lives, stopping monsters like Blonsky and helping people to see that when bad things happen, not all was lost, that was what he lived for now.

He smirked and helped an old woman crawl out of her car. "There's a medical tent just down the street, lady," he said as amicably as he could, even if she took too long to get started. Superspeed also meant slower people literally moved at a snail's pace. It took all he had not to snap at people for moving like they were in slow motion.

It was a real pain in the– "Hello."

His feet skidded to a stop and carried him toward a young woman trapped under a small piece of building. His strength wasn't much, but it was enough to lift it a few feet off the ground and allow her escape. Sometimes, slow motion wasn't a bad thing. Luscious blonde hair framed a soft, gorgeous face with vivid green eyes. Her near flawless, curvaceous figure stretched itself out as she stood and faced her rescuer.

"Thank you, brave hero," she said in a divinely dulcet voice that sent a small chill up his spine. "I was afraid I had met my end today. But you rescued me, kind Quicksilver."

Despite himself, he blushed like a schoolboy. He tried to play it off, but found himself unable to look away, from her gorgeous eyes or the ample cleavage she was intentionally showing off. "No, it was no trouble at all, Ms. It's what I do."

"Christine. Christine Collins. And please, allow me to repay you for your heroism." She smiled, and while he felt his blush intensify, he also felt that something wasn't quite right.

"That won't be necessary, Ms. Collins. As an Avenger, I'm more than happy to save lives free of char–" He was cut off by her lips crashing against his. While she wasn't the first woman to kiss him after saving their life, and likely wouldn't be the last, there was something… strange about what was happening.

Not that it was bad; quite the opposite. But he had lives to save, and no time to spare for a make-out session with some woman he just met less than a minute ago. But he couldn't bring himself to pull away. He wrapped his arms around her slim waist tightly and deepened the embrace; and then, something happened. Something flowed through him, like a wave of fresh air. He felt, liberated, free from all the strife and struggles and burdens that he had felt in his life.

He felt at peace.

Christine ended the kiss and looked up at Quicksilver with the most innocent of smiles upon her face. She said nothing for a while, and eventually leaned upward to whisper in his ear. "Now then, my sweet pet. Kill your sister. Kill the Witch."

A very small, not very loud voice in the back of his mind was screaming at the top of its lungs that something was terribly, terribly wrong. But there was something, some kind of force that was drowning that little voice out.

His face hardened as he turned toward Wanda, who was busy clearing rubble away from a less than stable building. His eyes narrowed as a gust of wind signaled his dash forward, one thought flashing through his mind like a neon sign; kill Wanda.

**A/N: Ahahahaha, don't you all just love cliff hangers! Hope you enjoyed and don't forget to review! **


	8. From Protector to Murderer

_Disclaimer: I do not own these characters._

_**From Protector to Murderer**_

It was always heart wrenching, as Wanda quickly found early on in her hero career, to look at the pained and frightened faces of the innocent civilians that they as heroes protected. It was probably the one part of being a hero that she hated; that innocent people seemed to always be thrown in the middle of every battle, no matter how hard they tried to protect them.

It just spurred her on to get better, so that she wouldn't have to see these expressions again. She swore the day she joined the Avengers to protect all innocents at all costs. Even if she had to sacrifice her own life to save another, that was something she was more than willing to do.

She sighed and extinguished a fire blazing around an overturned car. "Don't worry, you'll be out in a moment," she said in a reassuring tone. As she helped them, she felt a small, almost unnoticeable ping of a magic signature somewhere nearby. Most likely Thor, but it didn't quite feel like his usually signature.

_Could it be the –?_

Her thoughts were interrupted by one of the little girls in the car planting a kiss on her cheek. She laughed nervously and wiped it off.

As she pulled the last child out of the car, she realized that she hadn't seen her brother in almost five minutes. Thor was busy fighting the Abomination, and they were to be pulling people out of the wreckage. But she hadn't felt the familiar gust of wind produced by his great speed in some time. She turned to search for him, in case he was in need of help, but then recoiled and fell back after something very hard hit her in the face.

"Ugh," she groaned as she picked herself up. _Is there yet another villain here?_ she thought to herself. Her emerald eyes scanned the area, even as the left side of her jaw ached sharply. "Oof! Gah!" she yelled as she was hit two more times in the face and hit the ground hard.

_What the hell is going on?_ She struggled to get up, and shuddered at the sight and feel of warm, crimson blood dripping on the trembling ground beneath her. She hadn't expected to fight; but whoever it was certainly wasn't going to cakewalk through this.

She rose to her feet, her hands already glowing with a pair of charged hex bolts. "Show yourself, coward!" The only reply to her demand was the fond whoosh of her brother coming to a stop. "Thank God you're here! We have another villain to concern ourselves with, and I think whoever it is has superspeed, as well."

He said nothing, made no sign that he had heard her or made any gesture of concern. His cold, hardened expression didn't soften a bit at the sight of blood dripping freely from her nose. The stare he was giving her was unnerving, almost frightening in its intensity. Something wasn't quite right in her mind.

"Pietro, wha–" She was cut off by his hand clasping firmly around her slender neck. She choked out a strangled gasp and fought both his stronger than usual grip and her own shock. "Wha…what are you doing?"

"Killing you," he responded with the utmost casualness.

She searched his eyes, his…not blue, but green eyes. She froze, and thus wasn't prepared for when she slammed into the wall he threw her into.

Why was he doing this? What had she done to bring this about? Why would he suddenly start attacking her, and state that he was going to kill her?

Her answers came in the form of four shards of jagged glass driving themselves deeply into her side. The burning pain she felt strangled what pained cry she was preparing to let loose. "Pietro, please… Don't make me hurt you." The words tumbled out of her shivering lips, slurred by the dizziness in her head and rapid blood loss.

"Hurt me?" he spat, with such venom that her heart tore in two. "You'll be dead long before that happens." He sneered and stalked toward her. She noticed him hesitating with each step and wasted no time.

"Sorry, but not today!" she yelled as she fired a hex bolt. He screamed on contact and was sent sailing back, landing hard on his back. "You may look and sound like my brother, but I will not allow you to masquerade as him any more!" Pain burned in her midsection, but was ignored as she fired another hex bolt. He didn't bother to dodge because it landed at his feet. He smirked and tried to dash for her again, but found the pavement beneath him reduced to a melted, sticky goop. It was difficult for him to lift his legs, let alone run, which coaxed a half-hearted smirk from Wanda. "Good luck running in that muck, doppelganger! Now, tell me what you've done with the real Quicksilver!"

"Fool. I am the real Quicksilver. I've just been liberated. I serve a new mistress now, _Scarlet Witch_."

She didn't want to believe, did not even want to listen. There was no possibility that her brother would seek her demise. _It must be a trick! Yes, he is trying to toy with me._ Her face hardened with resolve as he stalked toward her again. Even at a mere fraction, he was still more than fast enough to dispose of her by then. So what was he waiting for? Why hasn't he made his fatal blow; and why did he continue to hesitate like he was?

"You liar! You have him somewhere!" The glow around her hands darkened as she drew upon her chaos powers. "You will tell me where he is," she said darkly.

"What's there to tell?" He sneered again and tilted his head, as if amused by her. "I am right here, sister dear."

"Enough!" Her hands clapped together and a stream of black fire streaked through the air. "I've heard all that I will hear from you!"

He dove out of the way and four more shards of glass found themselves embedded deeply in her abdomen. She cried out and fell to her knees. The burning pain had grown into a fully fledged inferno, which threatened to drive her into unconsciousness by its merits alone.

"Now, dear sister. What would Agatha say if she saw her best student on the ground, dying?" The amusement with which he said those words made her stomach turn.

A long, deep cut was carved up her inner thigh before she knew what was happening. A long cry slithered out from between her gritted teeth. With the femoral artery severed, blood poured out like a running faucet, pooling underneath her.

The thought, at first a whisper, now a full on scream, rushed back into the forefront of her mind. _It is you, isn't it?_ "Why, Pietro? What have I done?" she pleaded, only to gasp when he lifted her up by the throat. The signature; she can feel the faint traces of the same magic that she felt before oozing off of him. Her hand trembled, not just from the blood loss, but from her worst fear being confirmed. "What has happened to you?" she mumbled helplessly.

"I have been made free." The cold, spiteful look that was so lacking in remorse he flashed across his face hit her like a punch to the gut.

The red light surrounding her hands was snuffed out like the fires of her will to fight. All of the fight vanished from her body as their eyes met, green on green, hers searching for something, anything to tell her that there was something left. Nothing. Nothing but the cold, empty shell of the man whom she held so close to her heart; a man who had had his mind carved out like a jack o'lantern and replace with the will of some sorceress. Pietro was gone, and her heart was broken.

One more glass shard appeared in his hand. With an sneer so evil that she couldn't bear to loon, he reared back, intended to jam it into her neck. "Goodbye, Wanda."

"I say thee nay!" A thin lightning bolt collided into Pietro, sending him flying into a pile of rubble. Wanda's limp body, unable to support itself any longer, fell like a pile of bricks. Thor's strong arms caught her and gently placed her on the ground. When he looked up, Quicksilver was slowly dragging himself to his feet. He pointed his mighty hammer at the speedster and prepared to defend the prone woman beside him. "Explain this treachery at once, Quicksilver, and perhaps I shall show you mercy."

"It's simple, Fabio. I –" he began before cutting off abruptly. He grinned a few seconds later. "It seems that playtime is over. Pity. Until next time, _friend_." He laughed as he took off running down the street.

Thor prepared to give chase, but stopped once he vanished in a flash of green light. "Just like a few days ago," he muttered. He turned to Wanda's unconscious form and grimaced at the sight of a steadily growing, but thankfully still small pool of blood forming beneath her. "Captain," he spoke into the comm, "being the Quinjet down. We must leave at once."

_=Okay, but we can't leave until the clean up crew arrives. Fury's orders, =_ she replied.

"To hell with Fury's orders! Scarlet Witch is gravely injured and needs medical attention this instant!"

_=Roger that. I'm radioing the helicarrier to get medical ready.=_

"Thank you, Captain." Thor hooked his hammer to his belt and picked Wanda up gently. A soft sigh escaped him as his eyes glanced worryingly over the young sorceress. _Why, Pietro?_ The soft whine of the jet's engines as it descended carefully in front of him snapped his burning gaze. "There will be a crew arriving shortly to aid with cleanup and the injured," he informed an oncoming officer, "I apologize but we must leave at once."

With that, he boarded the jet without another word.

* * *

It wasn't even twenty minutes before the jet landed on the upper deck of the helicarrier. Bruce, along with a SHIELD medical team, met Thor and Carol halfway with a stretcher and took Wanda away for immediate surgery.

After watching them take her away, Thor immediately strode inside and sought a place to reflect.

Worry and guilt sank heavily into both his heart and expression. Fondness for the young warrior and true admiration of her gifts had found their way into his heart over the short course of their friendship. Her relationship with her brother acted as sort of a parallel to his relationship with his own brother. The love they showed each other reminded him so very much of the love he and Loki shared early in their life.

But that had gone terribly wrong in seemingly an instant, and now again. It was the mirror image in his mind.

It completely boggled his mind that Pietro, a man who loved his sister so dearly that he had repeatedly shown willingness to forfeit his own life to protect hers, could actually turn about in an instant and come within a hair's breadth of forfeiting her life.

He hadn't seen any sign of growing tension, but perhaps in private? But why let it come to a head in such a public place, with lives on the line, civilians to be saved?

Thor shook his head and leaned against the wall of the secluded hallway he had wondered into. His thoughts thankfully shifted from the Maximoffs to the Abomination. He had defeated him with only a measure of difficulty, but still, he failed to properly apprehend him. He, like Gene Khan a few days ago and Pietro today, vanished in a flash of green light.

The Asgardian was either there on the scene or watching from afar. He could not and would not abide by such any longer. He then decided that in the morning, he would convene with Heimdall and get to the bottom of this. The time for question upon question going unanswered was over.

"She's in surgery now, so let's hope Dr. Banner is as good as Stark makes him out to be." Thor flinched subtly and turned quickly. It was only Carol. "Sorry about that. I thought you heard me walking up."

He nodded slowly. "'Tis no trouble. And aye, I have seen Bruce's medical miracles first hand. He shall guide her to safety."

She leaned against the wall beside him and folded her arms. "Yeah, well all I know is that he claimed his degree was in physics, not medicine." She sighed and pursed her lips. "Any clue what happened?"

He was hesitant to tell her anything. Betrayal within a team as closely knit as the Avengers was not something that could just be idly accused, even in jest.

But then, what other explanation could there be? Mind control? He knew of several sorcerers with the capability for such; perhaps that was the case. He would not dare get his hopes up, but didn't completely dismiss the idea. It was another thing to inquire about during his visit to Asgard.

"I…am uncertain," he said after a moment of hesitation. "She was brutally attacked, that much I do know." He hoped she would buy it and leave well enough alone.

She looked up at him, scrutiny etched over her features. "By Quicksilver, yeah?" He snapped his head downward to meet her eyes. "I'm not stupid. He would've been on the jet by her side if it wasn't him, right?"

He sighed and nodded again. "I was attempting to withhold any accusations until I had a better grasp on the situation. 'Twas not to be, I suppose."

Her mouth twitched into a small smirk. "That's usually the case. I'm sure Fury will take this well, so don't sweat it too much."

He recognized the sarcasm for what it was and frowned slightly. "Aye. I believe the apt term would be just one thing after another, yes?"

"Got that right." She straightened out and turned to leave. "Hey, I'm gonna go get a drink or two. Wanna come?"

He smiled softly. "Aye. A bit of ale sounds splendid at this moment. Allow me ten or fifteen minutes to bring Fury up to speed and I shall share drinks with you." She smiled and walked out, with him following a distance behind. As Carol turned to head back to the hangar, he himself turned the opposite direction in search of Fury.

_Director Fury will indeed be, well, infuriated by this happening; but that cannot be helped. Hopefully, my doubts will stave off his frustration for at least one day until I can illuminate the truth. And hopefully the truth will give us faith in bringing our brother in arms back._

* * *

**A/N: For those of you wondering about **_**The Great Paintball War**_**, don't worry, I haven't forgotten about it. I just needed a break from the crazy for a bit and wanted to concentrate on this story for a little. The next chapter will be dropping within the next week. :-)**


	9. Viper's Fangs Poison All

**A/N: Finally, some Bruce in this chapter, plus we'll see some Janet and Hank.**

_Disclaimer: I do not own anything except the clothes on my back._

_**Viper's Fangs Poison All**_

It had been a long three hours, but Bruce and the other doctors managed to stop the internal bleeding, which was the most pressing matter, and stitch up the rest of Wanda's injuries. Seeing his young friend lying unconscious on a surgery table made the green monster deep within tear at its cage.

What better way to stem his growing rage than getting drunk in a bar, he rationalized. It was then that he realized that he had been spending too much time with Tony.

Bruce walked inside the Avengers' favorite bar and, as usual, winced at the inordinate noise level. He didn't like the place very much. It was a nice establishment, sure, but his nerves couldn't handle the drunken louts that normally inhabited the place on any give day.

Why Tony chose that particular bar, out of all the other, quieter ones in the city, was beyond him. As were most of the ways of the self proclaimed genius billionaire playboy philanthropist.

It was around six o'clock that evening, so the after work crew was still there getting drunk to forget their troubles before going home to yell at their wives and beat their children.

Yet another reason why he hated bars with a passion. But the prices were low, so there was that. He sat in a comfortable, but worn out stool by the clean, but worn out oak bar and tapped the wood. The pretty, but worn out bartender turned and smiled once she saw probably her favorite customer. While engaging in small chit-chat, Bruce ordered his usual, a tall glass of white grape sparkling cider. It wasn't alcoholic, but still looked it so he would feel left out when the team went drinking.

As he sat at the bar, he sipped his drink and glanced around to his left. The world's tough treatment of its citizens had driven so many to drink, and the population of this kind of place had doubled since their, that being the Avengers, arrival on the scene. Purely an assumption on his part, but it wouldn't surprise him if it were true. Their arrival heralded a new world order; one where those with money and influence didn't have nearly as much power as those who literally had power.

With that new world order came unbridled chaos. A new crisis was happening every other week, and that kind of heart wrenching terror could put a lot of strain on an innocent person whose car was stepped on by a dinosaur and whose car insurance didn't cover 'acts of superhumans'.

Hence, the new found popularity of these types of places. He didn't like that people drowned their worries and miseries in alcohol, but who was he to tell people how to control themselves.

He took a half sip and looked up at the TV. If he took a bigger sip, he would have done a spit take at what was being shown on the breaking news bulletin.

_"…the Avenger known as Iron Man, who we all know as Tony Stark, engaged this mysterious aircraft after it opened fire on a busy interstate. It was going well, until he, as witnesses state, just fell out of the sky and into the middle of the lane. And about a minute later, the same jet reappeared and a man leapt out of the back and grew to enormous size. It was, quite frankly, beyond anything anyone had ever seen. He then tore the roof off of this car, which we believe belonged to Tony Stark, and plucked out a young woman. Who the man in the driver's seat and the woman are, we don't know, and neither Stark nor the driver were available for any sort of comment. We will have more when it's made available, but right now, this is all we know at the moment. This is…"_

Bruce had to work hard to keep from exploding right then and there. Could this day get any worse?!

Bruce's grip on the glass actually began to crack it slightly. "Careful, doctor, or it'll break. Just take a deep breath." His eyes cut toward the speaker, but softened at the sight of the team's new pilot. "There, that's better. Don't think Fury needs more added to his plate by you trashing the place."

He grimaced softly. "Guess not. …sorry about that. I just –"

"Please. You don't need to explain. I know how you feel," she said with a dismissive wave.

"You know how I feel?" he questioned with a skeptical eyebrow raise.

"Okay, not exactly. But I do know what it feels like to watch my friends get hurt, and not be able to do shit about it." She took a solemn sip of her beer and stared at the worn oak bar. "I was just a test pilot, so I usually wasn't out in combat. So I wasn't always there to watch my friends' backs. Sucks when they get hurt or die… or worse."

"Worse than dying." He knew what that felt like; he lived it every single day. "How do you cope?"

She smiled wryly. "I take a jet out at night and just fly. It's calming up there; nothing but me and stars. And a glass or two of Jack after doesn't hurt."

"You sound like Tony and Amelia Earheart's love child." He chuckled softly, but slowly grew more reserved. Slowly, his expression grew darker. "Whoever did that to Wanda will pay. I promise."

"Now, let's not get hasty and jump to conclusions."

He looked at her strangely. Jump to conclusions? What other conclusion was there that he had to make that choice? "What do you know?" As she opened her mouth to answer, another convenietly timed breaking news bulletin flashed onto the screen.

_"…and this just in, we have received confirmation on the story that we first broke to you a few hours ago. Then we reported that the Avenger known as the Scarlet Witch wad attacked and left in what looked to be critical condition. Witnesses and now videos captured during their heroic efforts confirm that the assailant was indeed fellow Avenger Quicksilver. The attacked was only stopped by Thor engaging him. The reason this happened is unknown at this moment, so we will keep you updated on…"_

Bruce's blood was literally coming to a boil. First, it looked like Tony and Steve were almost killed by some giant guy, and now the reason Wanda was on his operating table, almost dead, was her own flesh and blood! He didn't understand, at all, why he would even do something like this. He teeth gritted so hard that they nearly cracked; his fists clenched so tightly, his palm started bleeding.

"Breathe," she ordered in a soothing tone. A soft hand was placed over his coarse, shaking one. The Other Guy pounded furiously against the barrier that Bruce had spent years building up to give himself control over the beast. It wasn't the strongest defense, but strangely, the blonde woman beside him was doing a well enough job quelling his anger. "Here, take a sip of your not beer."

He complied wordlessly. If there was ever a time where he wished that the mere taste of alcohol didn't make him want to strangle the nearest deadbeat asshole, it was right then. "I'm sor–"

"Stop apologizing. You care for your friend, there's no shame in that. Just… don't jump to conclusions until Thor comes back."

He frowned a little and stared a hole into the bottom of his glass. "And where did he run off to?" Hopefully, for his sake, to go find some answers.

"To go find some answers."

He looked up and cast a curious gaze upon her. "Where? Does he know where Pietro went?"

"Probably not. But he said he was going back to wherever Asgard is to talk with his friend. He left about two hours ago." She finished off the beer she was idly sipping on in one gulp. "He said he'd be back by tomorrow at the latest."

To this, Bruce sighed and nodded slowly. "At the rate things are going, tomorrow we all may be," he started, but trailed off slowly.

It usually wasn't like the Bruce of recent times to be this pessimistic. Bruce of old, the one who was running away from the slightest inclination of trouble, yes. That one was a pessimist through and through. But once he met the Avengers, he gained a new outlook on life.

But it was hard to be optimistic with one friend laid up in a hospital bed and another being branded as a traitor. Enemies were closing in from all sides, it seemed, and with each passing moment, something else went down that put them further behind the eight ball.

"Is it usually like this for you guys, shit hitting the fan and exploding everywhere?"

He shook his head, his soft brown curls rustling softly. "No. But there's that old adage, the night is always darkest before the dawn. Well, I think we're just now reaching dusk."

He wished he could smile and say that it would get better, but he was too worried about what was going to happen when they finally reach the night. "And everything was going so well, too."

"The day is brightest before the dusk?" she offered.

At this, he flashed a humorless smile. "Seems like it. We have a long night ahead of us."

* * *

**Undisclosed Location, Northern Canada**

It had been almost three hours since Janet had been abducted by Hydra in the middle of a busy interstate. It was a bold and brazen move, since not only was it in the middle of broad daylight, but it was also in the middle of an interstate, where news helicopters and people with camera phones could and would record the entire thing.

Not exactly a gesture of sterling subterfuge from the feared and relatively unknown terrorist organization from WWII.

But, their mission had been accomplished. Janet van Dyne was in their possession; and with Pym, Hydra would very soon have an army of enhanced soldiers that made the Super Soldier Serum look like a science project.

Three Hydra agents, two dressed in the standard dark green body uniforms with gold gloves and boots, and the third dressed in a dark green sleeveless bodysuit with long gloves of the same color, stood in front of a large monitor. Together, they watched Dr. Pym work hard on a yellow serum.

The only woman among the three curled her lips into a smile. "Has Goliath awoken yet," she inquired, her words slightly obscured by her heavy Eastern European accent.

"Yes," one of the other two replied, "but he is in so much pain that he can't move a muscle."

She frowned heavily at this. Pym said that there would be complications if the subject overextended himself. She supposed growing to over a hundred feet tall fit that particular bill. "Very well. We will try again tomorrow, with something simpler."

A female Hydra agent came running up to the trio and saluted. "Madame Hydra, the test subject has awoken and demands to speak with you."

To this, the woman known by many as Madame Hydra sighed, as if dealing with a petulant child. "The rich and so called powerful are so pretentious with their demands, no? I suppose I can humor her for a moment. Retrieve Dr. Pym and tell him to meet me there." The agent nodded and ran off again.

After watching her leave closely, she turned to the two men beside her. "Ensure that Goliath will be well enough to resume his training tomorrow night." The two agents saluted in the same manner as the other and hurried away.

She paid their departure no mind and walked at a leisurely pace toward where the test subject was. Even though she was still a ways off, she could just barely make out the shrill voice demanding this and ordering that. Such an annoying little thing, that Janet van Dyne. She had been watching her closely for the last year now, and had become thoroughly disgusted with the pretentious, flighty attitude the heiress displayed. And her "intelligence", as surprisingly impressive as it was, wasn't much of a balance for that behavior.

She was in desperate need of readjustment.

"I see she is finally awake," she observed to a saluting guard posted outside the room. She opened the door and narrowed her eyes at the young Asian woman strapped to the lone table in the room. "Ms. van Dyne."

"You…are you the one in charge here?!" she asked in a unusually defiant tone, given her position.

"Indeed, I am the one in charge here. Allow me to introduce myself; I am Mada–"

"I don't giving a flying fuck who the fuck you are," she spat with so much vehement venom that the guard standing by her actually flinched. "Get me out of these fucking bonds this fucking instant."

Madame Hydra actually rolled her eyes, for as unamusing as Janet's defiance was. "No. As I said, I am in charge, as you say, so I decide when you are let free. And," she paused to firmly grasp Janet's face in her hand, "you won't be let go until after the procedure."

The young woman's eyes grew to saucers. "What procedure?"

A predatory grin played across her lips. "You needn't worry about that. At least until you are in better spirits." Janet stammered for a response, but it appeared that words failed her at the moment.

Taking that as a cue to continue, Madame Hydra let go of her face roughly and strode casually around the table, like a shark circling its prey. "As I was stating prior to your rude outburst, I am Viper, but you may call me Madame Hydra. This building you find yourself in is the very last outpost belonging to the WWII version of Hydra, led by the late Red Skull. Our soldiers and agents are the strongest of the strong, swiftest of the swift, brightest of the bright. We are the best there is at what we do; we pride ourselves on many things, not the least of which being our undying loyalty to our cause. Even in death, we shall not betray our brothers and sisters in arms."

She stopped circling at stood directly in Janet's line of sight. "Would you like to know how that is possible, in a world full of agents, double agents and even triple agents?"

The tone Viper had suddenly adopted silenced any and all protests that Janet was waiting to throw at her. The girl's eyes were quivering, filled with the delicious fear that women like Viper just thrived on. "Of course you would," she stated in a low, spine chilling whisper. "But, that can come at a later date. Today is the first of your many procedures to turn you into an effective soldier. You, Ms. van Dyne, will be the first female recipient of the now fully completed Pym Particle serum. You will be the very first in a long line of Wasp soldiers." She was absolutely excited about the prospect, much to Janet's disgust.

At that moment, as if on cue, Dr. Henry Pym stepped inside carrying a plain white case. His already wrinkled face seemed weary and tired, as if he had only slept a few hours during his entire captivity. His eyes, once they rested upon the fearful and confused Janet, instantly welled up with emotion, most notably hesitation and regret. "Please, Madame Hydra," he pleaded in the kind, unsure voice that Janet had come to know and love, "don't make me do this. She's my –"

Viper's face turned into a vicious sneer and she whipped around. "You'll do exactly as I say, worm! Or," she pulled a small device from her belt and pressed the button. Immediately, Henry screamed in pain and keeled over. She held the button for a few more seconds, and then released it. "Now, do what we agreed to, or would you like more… permanent motivation?" she said dangerously as she tapped the handgun on her hip.

"N-no… No, I'll comply. I'm sorry."

"Think nothing of it, Doctor. Now then, I shall leave you to your work."

Janet's heart began to pound like a drum in her chest after the heavy metal door closed shut. It was just the two of them, but the look on Henry's face, and what she had just seen and heard didn't allow her to feel comfortable around her friend. "Hank," she said quietly.

He didn't answer, but placed the white case on the work bench beside him.

"Hank," she said a bit more volume.

Still, he didn't answer, but took out a large, rather unnerving needle filled with some yellow liquid. Her eyes widened, both at the syringe, and the blank expression on his face. "Hank! Please, please don't do this!"

She squirmed as much as she could, but Henry grabbed hold of her already strapped down arm. Cleaning a spot with alcohol, he stuck the large needle into her arm. Janet kicked her legs and didn't hold back the discomforted shudder that was trying to escape.

"This is the Pym Particle serum. Once I inject it into your system, it'll be a few days before you'll be able to shrink on your own, but the effects are immediate. Now then."

She breathed out slowly, as the experience of it all sapped her of any strength. "Hank, why?"

"I do this, we both live. I don't, I die, and this happens to you anyway." He tone was cold, pragmatic and not the one Janet had known for years. He placed a mask over her nose mouth, and then turned around again and began to rummage around in his kit. "I wanted to keep you out of this, but Viper wants to break them. She wants to make them suffer as they fight their dying battle."

Janet had no idea what or who he was talking about, but she did know that the anesthesia was working. Her eyelids became heavy and the world around her became blurry and slurred. Henry's last words echoed in her mind before she lost consciousness. "I'm sorry, Jan. I really am." The last thing she saw was him approaching her with a scalpel.


	10. Aliens, Fire and Pheromones

_**A/N: This ended up being a lot longer than I thought it would. Anyway, enjoy :) **_

_Disclaimer: I do not own these characters_

_**Aliens, Fire and Pheromones**_

New York at eight o'clock at night was eerily quieter than it normally was on most days. It was still busier than most places at night, but for the city that never slept, it was a quiet evening.

In months past, when the city was quiet, it usually meant that it was waiting for something to happen. Whether that something was good or bad had to be seen to be determined, but on a night like tonight, something was about to happen.

That uncanny fact was not lost on a pair of Russian spies. The blonde, Yelena Belova, who was walking into a building, and the redhead, Natasha Romanoff, who was intently watching the blonde walk into the building. The former was unaware that the latter was watching; a situation that they both knew would get her killed, were this anything other than a fact gathering mission.

And that annoyed Natasha. She would have loved to put a bullet into the back of Belova's skull so she could go home to her new bottle of vodka. But no, Fury wanted to find out the Masters of Evil's plan, which meant that Belova lived, for now.

Yelena stepped inside the building and walked into the elevator. On the way up to her intended floor, she went over again what Viper had told her before she left the Hydra base. They had actually captured an alien. And talked with it. She could hardly believe it, even after replaying the conversation over and over again in her head. Yes, she was aware of the Chitauri, but she still couldn't believe that aliens actually existed.

_DING!_

Yelena looked up from her brief reverie and stepped out of the elevator. The halls were empty, which was to be expected, since most of the businesses in the office building were closed by then. But from her weeks of staking the building out, she learned that a certain doctor stayed into the late hours of the night, sometimes with a man staying with her.

She walked up to the office door and tucked a yellow envelope under her arm before stepping inside. The ambiance was peaceful. Several potted plants either sat or hung in the corners, a receptionist desk sat in the center of the small waiting room. Yelena's mouth twitch just slightly at the American flag hanging from a miniature flag pole. "Черт американцев*," she muttered.

A soft rustling noise from behind one of the closed doors grabbed her attention. Undeterred by the closed sign on the door, she stepped in anyway. "Can't you see I'm closed for the night. Come back tomorrow," said a professional looking blonde woman in a navy blue blouse and a pair of designer frames barely sitting at the tip of her nose.

"I'm not here for your so called psychiatric help," Yelena stated.

The woman looked up with raised eyebrows. "You're here to rob me, then? Because that's not going to work out so well for you, dear."

Yelena scoffed. "Were I here to rob you, I would have brought a bigger gun. I am here as a proxy to request your aid in interrogating a prisoner my associates detained last month." She dropped the envelope on the smooth mahogany desk as the woman curiously rose a single eyebrow.

"Hm. Interrogation is not my thing. I'm a psychiatrist, not a goon of whatever organization you're a member of." She opened the envelope, and her other eyebrow joined its companion. Whatever the thing in the photographs was had dark purple skin and the face of a fish. Its elongated, four fingered hands were pressed against the glass of its containment cell, which could barely hold its seven foot frame when it stood tall. "What…is this thing?"

"It's called a Kree. It's an alien, like the Chitauri that invaded last year, but different. It speaks English, weirdly enough, and all it has told us is that it name is Mahr-Vehl of the Kree. We were hoping that perhaps you could coax more out of it."

The doctor took of her glasses and examined each of the fifteen photographs with extreme scrutiny. It had been only on nights of extreme drinking that she could have ever even dreamed of seeing something like this. "I see. And you say it speaks English?"

"Barely. We found him in the jungles of Wakanda. What he was doing there is something we wish to know."

She nodded and placed the photos back into the envelope. She was silent for several moments, apparently thinking the proposition over. After a lengthy pause, she said, "Very well. I will help you, for a price. I prefer to work it out with your boss, Ms.… I don't believe I caught your name."

"Didn't give it to you. We'll be in touch, doctor."

As Yelena collected the envelope and stepped out, Clint slipped the earpiece to the laser directed listening device he was using to eavesdrop on the conversation out of his ear. "Well, that was more than interesting. Looks like we may have yet another alien invasion."

Neither woman showed any reaction other than simultaneous eyebrow raises. "Aliens. Again." Natasha deadpanned in more of a statement than a question. "Any word on what kind?"

"Kree," Clint said easily enough. "Something called a Mahr-Vehl. Fury will be interested, but it sounds like the Master of Evil got to it first."

"That could be bad if it's got some kind of ship with tech on it," Jessica said warily. She looked at Clint, who was very subtly staring intently at the building. "Something else?"

He sighed and glanced at Natasha, who silently told him to spill. "The woman she was talking to…I know her. Her name is Karla. Karla Sofen."

Natasha again only raised an eyebrow, but Clint knew that she was a little concerned by this. "How?"

"She was a SHIELD psychiatrist for a few years. She helped me out of a few tough spots. We… kinda grew close." He trailed off and gained a faraway stare before shaking his head clear. "Anyway, she was let go a few months before either of you got here. She doesn't exactly play it by the book. She has a string of patient suicides that is too long for SHIELD to ignore."

"You think she has something to do with them?" Jessica asked as she glanced at the building. "Get down. Belova's on the move again."

After they ducked down, Yelena walked out of the building. She glanced down both sides of the sidewalk and the rooftops to ensure she wasn't being followed or watched. Satisfied that she was alone, she started to head off.

The three agents rose back up. "Probably," Clint muttered out before checked the building. "Okay, I'll check with Sofen to see what's up. You two trail Belova and see where she's going now."

"Why do I get the feeling a lot more than talking is about to happen?" Natasha inquired cooly.

"Don't get caught, and that's all there will be," Clint fired back, just as cool. She smirked and grabbed Jessica's hand to get a lift to the opposite rooftops, while Clint scampered down the fire escape and crossed the street.

He smirked to himself during his lonesome ride up the elevator. It had been about five years since he had actually seen Karla, three if one included telephone conversations. They had had a… thing with one another that may have overstepped the bounds of doctor-patient privilege. He figured Natasha's problem with that was that he never told her or even mentioned it vaguely.

Funny. He never pegged her for the jealous type; but he had been noticing such whenever Fury assigned him missions with Jessica, or even with that Dr. Morse. And then there was that little spat between her and Jessica last week. Sure, that was all in a joking manner, but he knew at least one of them was being at least partially serious.

He didn't know Jessica enough to read her like the manual to a self assembly composite bow, but he could Natasha. He had never known her to be that territorial. Maybe she saw Jess as a threat to their relationship; made sense, Jess was pretty hot, if not a little loose in the head. Then again, Tasha wasn't exactly the poster child of mental stability. Then again again, neither was Karla.

His eyes widened as he came to a startling realization. _Oh God, am I attracted to crazy women?! Christ, Stark will flip when he–_

_DING!_

His thoughts were thankfully interrupted by the doors suddenly opening. Shaking his head clear of those thoughts, he strode confidently to Karla's office and walked inside.

"What, did you forget something?" he heard her say from her office.

"My breath. But, then, I think you stole it."

"Who in the –" She stepped out of her office and smirked as soon as she laid eyes on him. "Well, well. If it isn't the world famous Hawkeye. Still doing your best Robin Hood impression?"

He smirked and stepped up to her. "Nah. Robin's doing his best impression of me." She rolled her eyes at his corny bit of vanity. "So, nice place you've got here. Plenty of patients for you to help." _More like victims to help commit suicide,_ but he kept that to himself.

"Yes, I really like the city. And my associates and I are helping so many of the victims of the alien invasion last year, so that's really helping me sleep at night."

_Yeah, I bet it does,_ he thought to himself. He slapped on his signature smirk. "Yeah, alien invasions." She quirked an eyebrow and studied him for a long moment. Undoubtedly trying to discern his intentions. His expression blanked as he returned the stare. He had to admit, reading Natasha for all these years had made it easier to read other people. He could tell she was trying to hide something. Obviously, he knew what that something was. "Something intrigue you?"

"I should ask you the same. SHIELD agents never drop by for a late night chat unless they want something. What's your play?"

He played hurt, clutching his hand to his chest in a very Tony Stark move. "You've wounded me. Right here in my little bird heart." He grinned, but that faded when her expression never changed. "Fine. Just wondering if you've had an… interesting day is all. Is that so wrong?"

Now was the time to see if she was willing to talk.

"Oh you know, the usual. Should I have had an interesting day?"

She wasn't selling; at least not without a little gentle prodding. Clint was all about prodding. "Yeah. Saw a woman coming out of the office right after I arrived. Short, blonde hair. Ring any bells?"

This time, she smirked. "Oh right. Real wackjob. She actually tried to get me to talk to some 'alien' that she and her friends found in the woods somewhere."

She thought she was playing him, but he knew better. And he was good at playing along. A false laugh that rang convincingly true rumbled up his throat. "Aliens? Man, everyone has seen an alien after that invasion last year. Can't tell you how many tin foil hat wearing nutjobs we've had call us to report that ET was in their basement. Did she say it was a little green man with little antennas?"

"No," she laughed out, "it was purple and looked like a fish. Here, I managed to keep a picture." She pulled it out of her desk and handed it to him. "Pretty good Photoshopping, huh?"

"Yeah, I'll say." Clint trailed off when his uncanny eyes scanned it with extreme scrutiny. It wasn't like anything he had ever seen. Since the Chitauri, he had always assumed that more of those aliens were out there, and there, in his hands, was proof that there were more right here on Earth. He looked up and saw that she was looking in her book. Taking that opportunity, he unhook his cell and quickly and quietly snapped a picture. "Real good job. Wouldn't be able to tell that it's fake if I didn't know any better."

"Yep," she replied, popping the p. He smirked inwardly. "So, how's life?"

"Where do I start?"

* * *

**New York Docks**

Natasha and Jessica had followed Belova for fifteen minutes before they finally came to a stop at an abandoned warehouse. "I don't like this," Natasha commented flatly as they observed from across the street.

Jessica held a pair of thermal binoculars up to her face and grimaced. "You've good reason not to. I've two hot readings and one normal one. Whatever she's got holed up in there is putting out a lot of heat."

"Should we call for backup?" Without waiting for an answer, she sent Clint a text telling him to cut whatever they were doing short and head to the docks.

"Yes. Those two hot readings are human shaped."

"That's impossible."

"Love, in a land of monsters, gods and aliens, nothing is impossible anymore. Technically, I'm impossible, but hey." She replaced the binoculars in her pocket and floated upward. "We need to get a look inside. Stay here while I go get a closer peek." Before Natasha could protest, she was already flying down toward the side entrance. Jessica could hear the Russian cursing under her breath and smiled to herself.

It was strange; whatever was generating those high thermal readings wasn't giving off any residual heat. Even from outside, she should have been feeling something, but it was only as warm as the normal night air. Well, that's weird.

Up above was an open window that she used to float inside. Inside, the warehouse was mostly empty, with the exception of a few generic crates. Jessica quietly walked along the rafters until Belova came into clear view. It seemed that she was talking with a pair of ordinary looking men, but they were talking too low for her to hear.

It was too strange. There was nothing, that she could feel anyway, that should have been giving off those high thermal readings. She began to think that the binoculars were malfunctioning. That was, until she noticed similar looking burn marks along the sleeves and pant legs of the two men.

She had said that the high readings were huma– They were all looking up in her direction, the same smirk on all three faces that made her want to smack herself silly for walking directly into a trap. Shit, Natasha was going to give her shit for this.

"Burn her!" Belova yelled out. The two men opened their mouths and, go figure, streams of fire poured out and rocketed toward her. With only a second to react, she shot upward and returned the favor with a pair of bioelectric blasts. She noticed Belova duck out through the back and cursed silently.

"Trap," she said into her comm.

"What?!" was Clint's response.

"Told you," was Natasha's.

"Bloody shite you did," she replied in annoyance.

"Sure I did. Had you not flown off, you would've heard me." The smugness in Natasha's voice made her want to thump her in the face.

"Just get your arse over here before I get roasted." She managed to dodged another volley, but the heat from the blasts singed her arm. "Shit!" She stumbled to her feet and kicked one of the men's feet out from under him. Flipping up, she tried to slam her boot heel into his throat, but had to sail out of the way of not one, but two fire balls the size of mailboxes. "Fucking arses!"

They both sneered and began to close in on her. Their speed was almost as great as hers was, but the gap was small enough for the difference to be moot. She slipped and dodged away from several karate chops, though one nearly broke her arm when she parried. She hissed and flipped away, a pair of bioelectric blasts flew from her feet and hit them dead in the chests.

Nothing, again. The blasts hit, and should've killed them; but what damage they did healed almost instantly. "Shite," she said for the third time in half a minute.

A pair of gunshots announced her backup's arrival. They hit each man dead in the chest, but neither fell. "Well, that was predictable." Jessica weaved around a pair of fireballs and swooped down as Natasha dove for cover. "You're going to need a bigger bang than a glock."

The two men circled the crates they were hiding behind from opposite ends and engulfed the middle in fire. Jessica had already hoisted herself and Natasha upward, so all they hit was air. With them in one place, she fired a blast, if only to by her some time to get Natasha to safety. They jumped out of the way of two more heavy streams of intense fire. "I don't like using this, but, no choice and all that." she said, annoyed.

"What are you talking about," Natasha asked, charging her Widow Bites for the inevitable fight.

The two men leaped onto the platform behind them and prepared to cover them in fire. Jessica cleared her throat and stepped in front of them. "Alright, that's quite enough of that," she said sternly. To Natasha's both shock and confusion, they both stopped. "Right then. Chivvy along and tell me all you know."

Again to Natasha's shock, they agreed without question or protest. "We don't know anything other than our plan tonight," said one of them. "Black Widow wanted us to wait here while she lured you both into our trap, and then we were to roast you both," added the other.

"And your powers? Where do they come from?"

"The Extremis serum."

That, Jessica wasn't expecting to hear. She was certain Tony said that he destroyed every last drop of it when he defeated Killian last year. In fact, he said that he and Potts were the last two who were injected with it, and they were both flushed clean. "How? Stark destroyed it all."

"He did; but while working with its creators, Gene Khan found and memorized the formula. He then perfected it a few months ago and began to inject it into others. There are several more like us."

Two exploding arrows lodging themselves into the base of the necks. Jessica and Natasha leapt off the platform just before a pair of small explosion destroyed their heads. Their bodies slumped to the ground. "Well, now there are two less," Clint said cooly.

"Well, that ended quite nicely, don't you think?"

"Alright, what the hell was that?! How did you just up and make those two do what you wanted like that?" Natasha demanded in a fit of uncharacteristic frustration.

"Heh, jealous, are we? If you must know, I've the ability to exude a pheromone that makes men much more agreeable to my whims than they normally are." Her back was turned to her so she could face Clint, but the sound of a frustrated huff brought a satisfied smirk to her lips. "Don't use it much, though. It's pretty unfair to some other women who need to tart it up to get the same results."

Natasha, who discern that that was an unsubtle jab at her, replied with, "Please. What you call 'tarting it up' is actually spy work; unlike you, who has to rely on your freakish powers to compensate for the fact that you're a shitty spy and a terrible agent."

"Whoa, wait a minute," Clint said, stepping in between them, "that wasn't necessary. Neither is getting hostile with the person who just pulled your ass out of the fire, literally." He flashed Jessica what he hoped was a charming grin, but was just a goofy one that she waved off.

"No worries. My pheromones always make women extremely repulsed by me, so that's normal. It'll wear off eventually. Anywho, it seems to me that the Masters of Evil are building an army to match and overwhelm ours. Not good."

"Think there's any connection between Hydra and these guys? Belova said she had associates. We can now confirm that she's working with at least the Masters."

"I'd be shocked if there wasn't," Natasha answered with audible strain. "Fury will need to know this as soon as possible. And I'm guessing that if we find that Hydra base, then a lot of our problems will go away."

"I agree. Let's move."

**A/N: Please enjoy and don't forget to review. Only a few words will do. Please? :-)**

_*Damn Americans_


	11. Prying Truth From the Liesmith

_A/N: Thanks for the review, __**Linzerj**__! The plot's pretty complex, but hopefully I've made it easy to follow. And I had Spider-Woman use her pheromones because I always liked when she used them in the comics and thought it would be a nice change of pace from how they usually get information out of the bad guys._

_Disclaimer: I don't own these characters._

_**Prying Truth From the Liesmith**_

Hours after he departed from Earth, Thor was resting in his bedroom, eyes fixated intently upon the ceiling, and mind ruminating over many things.

His last two returns to Asgard were anything but triumphant, his previous one only being for a scant hour. He was afraid that this one was quickly to come to an end as well. He saw no one but those within his objective, namely only Heimdall at this point, and he visited none of his friends and dear allies. Surely Sif and the Warriors Three would have words with him over such a slight, but at the moment, that would have to be.

He had learned in his converse with Heimdall, that a dear ally could possibly be the root cause of many of their, that being his and the Avengers, problems. He sighed and stood, exiting his bedchamber hastily and started for the prison. As he walked and dismissively waved away the horde of maidservants, he replayed his conversation with Heimdall.

_"Welcome back, my Prince."_

_Thor smiled brightly as the dark skinned, golden clad observer greeted him amicably as he landed upon the Asgardian side of the Bifrost. "My thanks, my friend. I wish it that my visit were anything other than business, and that business were anything other than of the import that I find that it is."_

_"Please, save your apologies. I am well aware of the trials that you and your Midgardian allies find yourselves in," he replied understandingly. "These Masters of Evil have a scheme that is already deeply entrenched and may prove more difficult than you believe even now to thwart."_

_Thor looked down, his expression contemplative of Heimdall's words. It was even worse than he thought. They had already woven a web of complex plans and subplans that were already proving to become difficult for him to follow. "Do your eyes see exactly where they are located? Their base of operations, secret hideaways, anything?"_

_Much to Thor's both surprise and disappointment, he shook his head grimly. "I am afraid not, my Lord. Wherever they are, their location has been obscured from my senses."_

_"Is such even possible? Who could possibly obscure themselves from the Seer of Worlds?"_

_"No one of Midgard, I assure you."_

_"So then…"_

_"Aye, the Asgardian who has plagued you for the past week and a half is at the cause, I am certain. Who it is, however, I am not sure. But, I have my guesses."_

_"Speak. Make them known to me."_

_"Very well," he sighed softly, "out of all the sorcerers in the Nine Realms, I have been unable to keep consistent track of Amora's whereabouts. In fact, I have not seen her in the last two days or so."_

_"Amora?" Thor repeated, voice laced with hesitant confusion._

_"Aye. Out of all the sorcerers, she is one of the few powerful enough to conceal herself from me for this long. Also, she has made frequent, recent, sojourns into Midgard before she vanishes without a trace. Whatever she is up to, I am –"_

_Thor shook his head. "Nay. Your suspicions, they are inaccurate. Amora is not the type to… she is not a person who schemes and plots! She is not Loki, for Odin's sake!"_

_"Nay. Of that, we agree. But, she has been visiting him frequently lately."_

_"They are friends. We are all childhood companions. Of course they would speak…" He trailed off into a soft muttering. He shook his head again and looked into the golden eyes of Heimdall. "I shall see into this matter further."_

_"That is all I ask," he replied succinctly. "You owe at least that to your allies."_

To that, Thor finally decided, he could agree. But he could not just walk up to her and accuse her of scheming against the Avengers, against him. She was a friend, and had proven herself as such tine and again.

He sighed. There was but one other person who could tell him for certain.

Loki.

He dreaded going to see him, oddly enough. Not because he had lost love for him; quite the contrary. It was more that it pained him more than it probably should have to see his beloved brother powerless and trapped in a cell like, well, like he deserved to be.

He still did not know where things went wrong; and that was something he and Sigyn and his mother had spent many nights discussing. Many times to no avail. To him, there was no portent to his evil ways in the past. Had he been so blind that he did not see? Could others see what he did not?

Thor steeled himself and walked into the prison with that very question circling his mind repeatedly. The five guards bowed. "I wish to speak to the prisoner alone. I will be but a few minutes." They nodded and allowed him entrance.

When he approached the corner leading to the cell, he could have sworn he heard Loki speaking with someone. Sigyn, or their mother, perhaps? A quick peek around that corner revealed that he was speaking to no one but himself, seemingly just finishing up a conversation.

"…yes, see that you do. … Hahaha, yes, it will be quite glorious, indeed. Until again, my friend."

Who in the name of Bor could he have been speaking with? Could the solitary confinement of his prison cell have addled his mind to the point of insanity? It broke his heart even more than it already was at such a thought. Such a sharp mind, broken. Had he been more attentive, then this would not have come to pass.

With yet another shake of his head, he entered the cell room completely. "Loki." he spoke loudly, more loudly than he thought he would.

The lean, black haired god jolted to attention, a surprised expression flashing across his emerald eyes; but that was quickly replaced by the viciously bitter sneer that had become commonplace in their interactions. "Well, I must be the most popular man in all of Asgard. What, oh great Prince, do I owe this most underserved honor?" he drawled with venomous sarcasm.

Thor sighed, and opted not to question his apparent one sided conversation just moments ago. "I have come to speak with you, brother."

"Of course! Why else would you be here? Speak quickly, so that I may be rid of your presence as soon as possible."

Thor did his best not to look hurt by his cutting words, a feat made much easier by his close encounters with SHIELD and their talented agents. "You have received visits from those who still consider you a friend, yes?"

"That is correct. Next question."

"That would include mother and Sigyn," he commented, more to himself than anyone else.

"Yes, yes. Next question; I have more important things to see about than your inquiries."

"You are in a cell, brother; you have nothing at all but time and your thoughts. Besides, I figured a little company would suit you well."

Loki scoffed. "You thought incorrectly, Thunderer. I can do just fine without anyone's company. Now, if that is all, leave me."

"As you say. Nay, that is not all, I am afraid." He paused, thinking carefully on how to approach this in the best way. One slip and Loki would instantly weave a web of untruth to protect Amora, if he even knew. "You have also had visits by Amora, yes?"

Loki immediately turned his back to him. "Mayhap," he grunted shortly.

An odd gesture, Thor thought. Perhaps a subtle admission to more than he was letting one? "Mayhap?" he repeated.

"Yes, mayhap!" he replied, turning around to give Thor a withering glare. "Is it not legal for me to receive visitors? Am I so reviled in all the realm eternal that even my ally may not come see me, only my friend and so called 'family'?"

Thor, for a fact, knew that by friend, he meant Sigyn, who cried perhaps the most when Loki was presumed perished. But that meant that he referred to Amora as an ally, not friend. Nothing out of the norm, since the words meant the same thing; but it was an curious choice of words.

"If you must know," Loki continued, "yes, I have been receiving visits from her. They have been most enjoyable; much more so than any of yours, that is for certain. Alas, I have not seen the beauteous witch in nearly two days." A sly, cryptic smile crossed his thin lips.

Well, at least that added up with what Heimdall claimed. "Two days. And what have you spoken about during her last visit? What has she told you?"

"What business is that of yours?" Loki then chuckled derisively and smirked. "Ah, yes, I now see what this is. You wish to play inquisitor, do you not? Ha! Bumbling oaf. Leave such endeavors to those with the intellectual capacity to be more subtle about it."

Thor sunk his head. Perhaps that wasn't the best way to go about it. Loki was much smarter than he was; that was obvious. If he wanted to pry the truth from the Liesmith himself, he would have to go about it in a much more intelligent manner.

"Now then," Loki continued, "if you are quite finished with this farce of ridiculousness, leave me. Return to your precious Midgard and your beloved Avengers. Heh, mayhap you can join the Maximoff witch and give the wimpering girl a shoulder to weep 'pon. I've heard that brotherly betrayal is quite painful." The grin his flashed was predatory and derisive, filled with satisfaction that his mockery of not only Thor but his teammate had hit his mark. When he saw the enlightened look on Thor's face, however, he realized his folly, and his grin dropped instantaneously into a gawp of complete stupor.

"Fool." Thor smirked. "So, you have been made aware of not only Quicksilver's betrayal, but also that he and the Scarlet Witch are siblings, which is a fact known only by the Avengers, and perhaps the one who has taken control of him. For a prisoner isolated from society for almost a year, you are quite well informed. Unless… you have eyes and ears within Midgard." _So, that is who he was speaking with when I first arrived. Amora must have had herself concealed so that only Loki could see and hear her!_

"Wha– I…" Thor's smirk widened. Loki, the Prince of Lies, the Liesmith himself, was speechless. Made so by his 'blundering brother', as he so often put it. He could barely withhold the rumbling laughter bubbling upward.

"Thank you, brother, for your cooperation," he said with a small theatrical bow. The last image he saw before leaving was Loki's frustrated scowl. It felt good to finally get one over, as the mortals tended to say, on his brother.

His pride melted away quickly once he exited the prison and the ramifications of this discovery fully sank in. Yet another friend had strayed to the side of evil, at first appearances. Amora was the one who was mind controlling Pietro, he felt safe to assume. And he knew how, as well. The speedster had a bit of a weakness for beautiful women, and they did not call her Amora the Enchantress for nothing.

That meant that she was the reason Wanda was almost killed earlier that day. His hand tightened into a fist so tight that his knuckles turned white. He had yet to see the young woman in her hospital bed, but he had been alive long enough and seen enough allies recovering from injuries in lay in bed to know what she likely looked like. It usually wasn't favorable to look upon.

His heart began to boil with anger. "Wanda… Amora, how could you?"

Had he again been so blind, that he did not see Amora's evil ways, if this case truly was as his eyes and mind would have him believe? His heart said that Loki was playing him yet again, that he was yet again lying to conceal the true adversary. But then, Odin had told him repeatedly that the heart was not to be trusted.

_If Amora truly is in league with these villains, then that bodes horribly to Midgard,_ Thor reasoned minutes before reporting to Heimdall what he had learned. The guardian of Bifrost gained a grim expression.

"For you, I wish it were untrue, my friend," he said after listening to Thor's report, "but I am afraid that Loki, for a change, actually speaks truth."

Funny. It seemed that Loki still had a bit of truth left in him after all. Perhaps he also had a bit of good left, as well. As much as Thor wished that to be true, even he knew that he shouldn't hold his breath waiting for that. "Aye."

"Will you tell your father?"

"Nay," he answered immediately, "or, at least not yet. I doubt he is blind to the situation, but is certainly biding his time to see where this will lead. I must try to put an end to these machinations before he involves himself."

"Mayhap that is what is staying his hand. This is more your concern than a concern of Asgard. But know this," his tone and expression grew more grim with each word. He turned his back to Thor and gazed down the Bifrost to Earth. "My eyes have seen and still see a dark shadow descending upon Midgard. I see dark times hastily approaching. The mortals will need the hands of these Avengers to guide them through. And they, in turn, will need your hand to guide them through."

A cold chill ran up his spine at hearing those words. He felt as if a great weight had just been placed upon his shoulders; possibly greater than even he could carry. He resolved to endure, however, for they, his allies and friends, needed him to. "Thank you for your words, my friend."

"I wish I hadn't needed to give them. Good fortunes to you, Thor."

Thor smiled grimly and departed back to Earth. The Avengers would need to know this as soon as possible. Amora was powerful, more so than any of the other Avengers; and with the Scarlet Witch recuperating on the helicarrier, she was unmatched by any of them.

Thor then concluded that this was no coincidence. Amora placed Pietro under her control and had him attack Wanda; and in doing so, handicapped them by removing two of their more vital members. It was, in his eyes, a move of tactical genius. They now had no speed advantage and the dues ex machina that Wanda's magic had become was lost to them.

Apprehension and anxiety crept in at the thought of what else the immediate future had in store for them. "Damn it all," he muttered.


	12. Bad News Comes in Bunches

_Disclaimer: I don't own these characters_

_**Bad News Comes in Bunches**_

**Stark Tower, the Next Morning**

Tony, having mostly recovered from the soreness of falling nearly five stories and being ran over by a big rig, but not at all from the embarrassment of having his suit completely fail on him, sat in his lab, running what seemed to be the fiftieth diagnostic test of the armor. "I don't freaking get it," he wailed in frustration.

Bruce, who was working on his own miscellaneous project, peered over his glasses at him. "Still coming up with nothing?"

"Yeah! I've run a hundred and seventy different tests, retests and diagnostics; there's nothing coming up. No mechanical malfunctions, the arc reactor is running just fine. From what I can reasonably tell, the suit just shut down as it normal does."

"But I assume that it shouldn't have."

"Yeah, and why it did is what's confusing the fuck outta me." He looked at his watch, which read almost 9:30. He had been holed up in his lab since five o'clock the evening before and hadn't ate or slept. Right then, he was debating whether he was more tired or hungry.

"Sometimes malfunctions happen," Bruce offered while slipping off his glasses and placing them in his shirt pocket. "Happens to the best of us. Remember how crappy Mark 42 was?"

Tony caught the sly smirk and didn't appreciate it. "That was because it was untested. Mark 44 has been run through the complete ringer and came out just fine. Better than, actually." Bruce could only shrug. "Oh well, I'll figure it out eventually. I mean, I am me, after all."

"How could possibly I forget?" he replied with a wry smile. "Hey, I'm heading up to the helicarrier to check on Wanda; want to come with?"

Tony nodded idly while picking out another suit to use for the time being. He settled on Mark 47 and stepped on the platform to put it on. "Sure. Gotta talk to Fury about where they're at on finding Janet."

"Who?"

"Janet van Dyne? The woman that was kidnapped? I thought I told you yesterday?"

"You probably did, but I haven't slept in two days so I probably forgot." Seemingly wanting to emphasize this, Bruce yawned loudly and stretched his tired limbs.

"Sure you don't want to get some sleep," Tony, now fully suited up in the grey and yellow suit, said with genuine, but hypocritical concern.

That fact didn't escape Bruce. "You're telling me to get some sleep? You, the man who frequently forgets what sleep is?"

Tony just shrugged and nodded. Bruce shook his head good-naturedly and went to tell Carol that they wanted to head to the helicarrier.

* * *

**SHIELD Helicarrier**

Steve, still recovering from his concussion and broken nose suffered from slamming his head into the steering wheel, was sitting beside Wanda's bed, silently, and unknowingly, drawing yet another portrait of Peggy and listening to the young woman beside him breath softly.

Steve halted his methodical drawing and sighed heavily. Seeing her in the bed reminded him of just how dangerous their job was. Everyday, they risked their lives for the greater good, and everyday they counted their blessings when they came home in relatively good shape. Villains putting them in the hospital was a given; teammates, and especially literal family, wasn't.

His blood boiled when he saw the slowed down footage of the attack. Each shard of glass piercing her flesh felt like a stab into his own heart. He felt that when any of them were hurt; he was their leader, after all. But he felt it especially with her; she depended on her brother for almost everything, and he betrayed her. He felt the same way, in a sense, when he learned that Bucky was the Winter Soldier who was trying to kill him.

Kind of.

But this was on a different level entirely. It was probably how Thor felt when his brother betrayed him.

It was funny, in a way, just how much this team had in common. They all had experiences that were different enough to learn from, but similar enough to relate to. It was what made them so close; more than a team, but a family.

Steve set his gaze upon the sleeping woman. He smiled softly. Even asleep in a hospital bed, with purple bruises and a swollen jaw, she was still beautiful. Very beautiful. He gently swept a stray strand of auburn hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. He felt his heart jump when she roused slightly.

"Pietro," she mumbled in her sleep.

He watched her for a few moments, and then sighed when he realized she wasn't going to wake up. He sat back and returned to his drawing. Or would have, had he not heard a soft snickering coming from behind them.

"Well, isn't that cute," Tony said. Steve turned and saw him leaning casually against the door frame. "They even dream about each other!"

"Yeah, that's…that's funny."

"Well I thought so." He peered over Steve's shoulder and frowned slightly. "So, still haven't quite gotten over Agent Peggy yet?"

"What makes you say that," Steve replied curiously.

"You're drawing her, still."

"I'm drawing Clint actually," came his defensive reply.

"Didn't know Clint was so pretty in your eyes then," Tony quipped with a sarcastic smirk.

Steve frowned and actually looked at his drawing. He had to stop himself from smacking himself in the forehead. Sure enough, the lines where he had begun to draw a portrait of Clint had somehow morphed gracefully into one of Peggy. He had been so into the drawing that he didn't actually notice what he was drawing until just then. "Dammit."

"Don't beat yourself up. It's hard getting over your first love. Give it time, keep your options open and don't fight attraction when it comes."

Did Tony Stark just give him relationship advice? Steve blinked twice before he could think of a response. "Um, thanks, Tony. I'll keep all that in mind."

"See that you do. I'm getting tired of seeing you mope and pout when Pep and I partake in a little PDA. How's she doing, since I know you've been here since you're med exam yesterday?"

Steve couldn't help but feel that he was implying something, but couldn't figure out what. "Fine. She been sleeping well, no nightmares that I can tell and her heart monitor's been steady."

Tony nodded quickly and glanced at his watch. "Good, good. Let me know if she wakes up, because you'll need help in tying her down."

"What, why?"

"She'll want to go after Slimfast immediately after waking up, duh. Can't let her do that until she's fully healed. Alright, gotta talk to Fury about Janet. See ya later." With that, he straightened off the wall and strode out, only to pop his head back in. "Oh, by the way, Danvers is single." He winked and vanished out of the doorway, leaving Steve in a confused muddle.

Was his attraction to Carol that obvious? He knew he stared a little, but… Steve suddenly began fearing if she had noticed him staring and thought him to be some lecherous old pervert. "Ah, dammit. I hope she doesn't think I'm a creep."

"Don't worry, Steve. Carol seems to be the type to tell you if you're being creepy. And by tell, I mean punch."

"That doesn't help, Bruce."

"Wasn't supposed to." He walked inside and gave Wanda's hand a soft squeeze. He smiled thankfully upon receiving a squeeze in reply. "She's responsive," he commented while picking up her chart and scanning it carefully.

"That means she'll be waking up soon, right? She actually spoke about a minute ago."

"Yes, I heard her. That just means she isn't in a coma, which we already knew. I doubt she'll wake up for another few days; she lost a lot of blood… and we almost lost her three times during surgery. She needs rest."

Steve felt his heart stop. He grasped for ways to come to grips with that, failed eventually, and resigned to just thank the Lord that didn't it happen. He closed his sketch book and sighed. "Tony said we'll have tie her down to stop her from going after Pietro."

"Probably. Then again, I'm hoping we'll get him back before then. Or he'll come to his senses and come back on his own. Either way, he'd better be back before then, or there will be hell to pay when she comes to."

Steve just nodded slowly and cast a wary glance at the young witch. He had, a few days after they had first met, faced her wrath along with Clint and Natasha. He vowed that he never wanted to be a bald eagle again. He feared what she'd turn them into this time around. "Any word on where he is?"

"None. And we have zero idea how to even locate him." Bruce returned the chart to its place and rubbed his eyes. "Listen, Carol and I were talking yesterday and both of us agree that this mess is only going to get worse before it gets any better."

He had to wonder how that was possible. "Our first priority is finding the Hydra base as soon as possible. I have a hunch that they're connected with the Masters of Evil." He closed his eyes and thought back to WWII, when he glanced at the map in the Germany. "Most bases were in Europe, and all but a few were shut down completely. One I remember glancing at was in Canada, in the northern part."

Bruce quirked a curious eyebrow. "You remember that from over seventy years ago."

"Perfect memory," he replied with a shy smile. "I only got a glance at it though, so I can't remember exactly where in northern Canada. Sorry."

"Don't be. That's a better start than what we have right now."

He nodded slowly. "I'll tell Fury this and ask him for a team to help me take it out." When Bruce again raised an eyebrow, he knew what it was about. "Listen, the Avengers have lost two members already, so we're kinda stretched thin. Besides, with the Masters lurking out there somewhere, we need the majority of the team to be on high alert at all times." He stood and collected his supplies. "All we have to do for right now is find it. After that, then the Avengers come in and shut them down."

To this, Bruce nodded. "Sounds fair enough. Just be careful. Don't go flying any airplanes into the ocean."

Even though Steve chuckled, he could tell Bruce was only half joking. "I understand."

Bruce was about to respond when he was cut off by his cell ringing. "Banner."

"Banner, it's Fury. There's an active gamma bomb ticking in the Lincoln Memorial as we speak. Payload could wipe out half the city. There's a jet waiting to take you over there."

"Got it. On my way." As he hung up, he let out a weary sigh. "Duty calls," he said to Steve with a helpless shrug. "Bomb in DC, gamma. Fury wants me to disarm it."

Steve frowned heavily. It was too convenient for him to just let it go a chance happening. "Careful; it could be a trap."

"Oh, I'm sure it is. But still, there's the chance I could be wrong and half of DC is blown off the map." As Steve nodded sharply, Bruce strode out quickly and turned toward the hangar. With one more glance at Wanda, he sighed and headed out as well.

As he walked toward Fury's office, he thought back to Bruce's words. _It really is only going to get worse._ He wasn't sure if he could live with himself if someone else was hurt with him knowing it could happen. Yes, they were heroes, and yes, they did heroic acts knowing they could be hurt or worse. But that didn't make the feeling of sending his team, his family, off into harms way any easier to bear when what happened to Wanda happened.

As leader, it ultimately fell upon him to keep his team safe, and he had already failed once. He couldn't fail again.

But, they couldn't run and hide from the Masters, nor could they just ignore the army Hydra was building. Clint told them last night that Khan and his team had an entire army of fire breathing goons. He still couldn't believe it, even after Natasha and Jessica vouched with eye witness accounts. He couldn't even believe that the Masters had an alien in their possession, even after being in the presence of one for the better part of a year.

Too many variables and too many fuses were being lit at once, with them sitting directly on the payload. The resulting ignition could prove more than they could handle. Even if they were Earth's Mightiest Heroes, there was only so much even they could handle.

"Director Fury," he said sheepishly as he knocked on the open door.

"Come on in, Spangles," came Tony's voice, "we were just discussing things."

He heard Fury let out a frustrated sigh and decided that he shouldn't take too long. "Director, I remember seeing a map the Red Skull made outlaying the Hydra bases from WWII. Most, like 98%, were shut down by the Allies, but a few remained. One was in northern Canada."

Hearing this made Fury sit back in his chair. "You're right. A few years after the war was won, SHIELD went around and destroyed many of the remaining bases; all but one if I remember right. It was one of our first missions."

"Our?" Tony inquired.

"Yes, our. What I mean isn't important right now. What is important is that we haven't been able to find that last base. I suspected that it was up there, but it was too well hidden for our low tech scanners at the time. After awhile, we just left well enough alone and decided to play it by ear. That, obviously, was a mistake."

"Obviously," Tony repeated unnecessarily. "Welp, since Cappy knows where it is, let's head down there and –"

"Stop. I never said I knew where it was, only the general area. And even if I did, they have giant soldiers at their disposal, and God knows what else. We need to play this smart, meaning we first find where the base is, then strike."

"We've been searching the entire globe, and focusing on that particular area, and have found nothing," Fury confessed with a note of frustration.

"Did you use the Stark Scanner I made for you? It can find even cloaked areas. Hell, it was made specifically for cloaked areas."

"That was what we used. Still nothing. It's there, somewhere. But it either has cloaking tech well beyond you, or some other means of hiding."

"Like?" Steve asked.

To this, Fury could only shrug helplessly.

Steve sunk down into the seat beside Tony with a dejected sigh. For all his apprehension about the future, he was excited about finally shutting down the last Hydra base. "What now?"

Fury sighed heavily and rested his chin on his interlocked fingers. "We wait for Thor to return and pray that he has some good news. Because right now, I'm at a loss."

"Okay," Tony said. In such a gloomy atmosphere, he was, of course, the only optimist. "They have cloaking, magical I can only assume. That's the only explanation."

"Unless it's alien," Steve offered, alluding to the extraterrestrial that they had in their midst.

"True. Either way, we can't find them." Tony sat in silence for a very long, very uneasy minute. "Yeah, we're screwed."

"What?! I thought you had something?" Steve exclaimed.

Tony could only shrug. "What do ya want me to say? If we can't find them, looking the old fashioned way will only get us shot out of the sky at worst and will take too long at best. Plus they have Extremis, and giants, and Quicksilver, and magic; and it seems like they have everything and we have nothing." He ran a frustrated hand through his slick black hair.

"We just gotta keep rolling with the punches, Stark," Fury posited. "They'll slip up eventually, and when they do, we'll be there to put a stop to them."

Tony scoffed and folded his arms. "And if they don't. Gene isn't a novice, nor is he an idiot. This is a guy who eluded not only China, but the U.S. and SHIELD for what, five years and has only just now been seen. He's not going to make a mistake that we can jump on on his own."

Steve stroked his square chin in thought. It sounded like Tony knew this guy, which wouldn't surprise him. "So what are you saying?"

"They've been pushing us, so we push back just as hard. We need to capture one of them, I think, and make them tell us what they know. Preferably a guy so Spidey can use her horny gas on him."

Steve actually chuckled. "Horny gas?"

"Well, that's essentially what it is. Anyway, once we know something, we can go from there."

"That's about as good a plan as we'll come up with for now. Inform the other Avengers."

Tony beamed smugly at having his half-assed, hair brained plan accepted. "Cool. Point Break is at home, Blackarachnia and Hawkguy are probably being creepy in an air vent somewhere, Charlotte is probably spinning a web in a corner, Spangles in right here; that only leaves Jolly Green."

"Who is en route to DC to disarm a gamma bomb."

His eyes widened. "A gamma bomb? Am I the only one around here who thinks this is a trap?"

Fury sighed and stood from his chair. "No, which is why you're going to be on alert until he gets back. We're within a fifteen minute flight, so it won't take you long to get there should he run into trouble. The only reason you're not with him right now is in case the bomb is legitimate, and he's unable to disarm it in time."

Steve and Tony shared a glance before nodding. "That sounds reasonable, sir. Bruce can take care of himself, so I think hanging back until needed is a good idea."

Tony mumbled something that sounded like an agreement and shuffled off to suit up. Steve watched him leave and let a sigh breeze through his nose. Bruce's words again ran through his head, but he quickly shook them off. He wasn't going to let his imagination run wild until he had a reason to worry.


	13. Cut Off One Head, And It Becomes a Shiel

_Disclaimer: I don't own these characters._

_**Cut Off One Head, And It Becomes a Shield**_

Steve sighed as he exited Fury's office and walked toward his quarters aboard the Helicarrier. It wasn't fair, in his mind. The very last Hydra base was just begging to be destroyed, and he wasn't able to because they couldn't find it.

He would go by himself, if need be.

In fact, he should.

There wasn't an order not to go; not that that would have stopped him. It didn't when Col. Phillips ordered him not to go save Bucky and the others in the 107th, and that had actually turned out for the best. The Howling Commandos were formed and went on to become a lengthy thorn in the Red Skull's side until the very end. So why couldn't the same happen now?

With this in mind, he quickened his pace and reached his quarters quickly. "Steve?" he heard someone say from behind him. He turned, but found no one. "Up here, love." He glanced and let out a silent yelp at Jessica, who was squatting on the ceiling, grinning down at him.

"How are you even up there?" he asked as he watched her crawl from the ceiling to the wall above his door.

"Chemicals excreted from my feet," she answered as she sat on the wall.

"Sounds gross."

"Well, I am an evolved spider." She watched him enter the code to his quarters and enter inside. She crawled along the wall and followed him inside. "Listen, I overheard your talk with Fury and Tony. Sucks."

Sucks didn't even cover it. "Yeah," he said after a moment's pause. He stepped up to his closet and pulled out a case containing his SHIELD stealth suit. It was a more modern, discreet version of his public uniform, but without the spangly, as Tony put it. It was his preferred uniform for when he went on SHIELD missions.

He placed the suit on the bed, along with his blue and silver shield, which was made from the same materials as his original, but was courtesy the Stark son, not the father.

He had made up his mind; he was going to find that base, whether Fury wanted him to or not.

"I can help."

"Sorry, Jessica, but I'd rather have the remaining Avengers readily available in case something happens. Besides, this is just an information gathering mission; shouldn't take me too long."

She sighed and dropped gracefully from the ceiling to the floor. "I can help," she repeated with a little more force, "because I know where it is."

This gave Steve pause. He turned to face her, but found her frowning and avoiding his eyes. "How?"

It was as if that one word had opened a torrent of thoughts in her mind. He watched her expression change from apprehension to guilt in a matter of seconds. "I… I'd rather not say."

He quirked an eyebrow and studied her intently for an excruciating amount of time. His sterling blue eyes bored deeply into what little of her emerald orbs he could see with her gaze casted toward the floor. It was the gaze that made even the most hardened soldiers wither and succumb to his orders. "Do it anyway."

"I…," she started before drifting off into a deep sigh. "Promise you won't get upset?"

That gave Steve reason to worry. He had learned from watching those lame family sitcoms that whenever someone said that particular line before divulging the truth, that truth was always a doozy. "Agreed."

"Good. You'll want to sit down for this one." He sat on an unoccupied part of his bed while she sat in a chair. "You know that many of us SHIELD agents aren't born on the right side of the law. Nat was a Russian spy and assassin; Clint was a gun for hire; lots of others were mercs, soldiers of fortune, hackers, that sort of thing. A lot of us came from different organizations. SWORD, AIM, MI13. Me, I… came from Hydra."

Steve's mind exploded. Literally. It took him a full minute to even comprehend what he had said, and almost another to formulate an intelligent response.

He didn't jump up, but he didn't exactly stay as calm as he quickly wished he had have. "What?!"

"Viper got me when I was young. I really didn't know any better, to be honest." She just shrugged helplessly and looked at the floor again.

He didn't know who Viper was, but that wasn't important. What was important was that his friend, his trusted teammate originated with his hated enemy. The very same Hydra that tried to destroy the United States with their Tesseract based weapons.

He felt his expression contort into an angry scowl, but the guilty look on her own face made him fight it. Even still, he wasn't just going to let this go because of a guilty pout. "Why are you just now telling me this?"

"Fury's orders not to tell anyone. Fury, Coulson and I are the only three that know my full story. Everyone else just knows the bare basics."

Of course Fury had something to do with it. Steve was seriously wondering what else he was hiding behind that passive countenance. "I see."

The question of whether he could trust her flashed through his mind, only to be quickly disregarded. Even if she came from his most hated enemy, she had proven herself trustworthy over the last several months, and even before that when they had worked together on several SHIELD missions.

But he wasn't a fool, and didn't think that he hadn't lost a little trust in her. There was a cloud of doubt hanging over his in his mind. Whether she would be tempted to return to her roots was now a very large elephant in the room. Not one he was willing to deal with at the moment; but soon. "Still want to help?" he asked after a few moments.

"If you'll let me," was her reply.

"If you know where it is, then show me."

She nodded and stood. "Sorry to tell you like this," she said regretfully.

He watched her leave, and then slammed his hand softly against the door frame. "Damn it all."

* * *

Once Steve changed into his SHIELD uniform, he and Jessica strode quickly to the hangar bay. It would be a job to get a Quinjet and exit the helicarrier without Fury's authorization, but he did it once, he could do it again.

They arrived to find it mostly empty, except for Carol and another female SHIELD pilot. Steve spent not an insignificant amount of time admiring Carol's figure from behind. He hated himself, because he immediately remembered what Bruce was warning him about. He shook his head and averted his eyes elsewhere before his already red cheeks reddened any further.

"Carol, Agent May," Jessica greeted. The blonde and the shorter Asian woman with long black hair and a face that told of many years of service nodded simultaneously.

"Captain Rogers, Agent Drew," she greeted. "What can we do for you?"

"We need a Quinjet for a mission, ma'am," Steve replied easily enough.

"Alright, I have a meeting with my team, but I think Captain Danvers can handle it."

As Steve nodded, she turned and headed toward the main hallway. Once she was out of view, he breathed out a sigh of relief. The hard part was over; all that was left was to get there and back without issue, and then suffer the hours long lecture from Fury when they got back.

Carol hopped into the pilot's seat and fired up the engines. "Where to, guys?"

"68.7833° North, 95.4167° West," Jessica answered promptly as if she were reading from a cue card. Steve looked at her as he strapped into the copilot's chair. She shrugged. "I had to memorize it."

"That's in… Canada. Like way in the frozen part. What could possibly be up there?"

"The source of most of our problems," he responded simply.

She considered him for a moment before it dawned on her. "Gotcha. It'll be a while before we get there, though, and there isn't an in-flight movie."

Steve smiled noncommittally. "That won't be an issue. Not sure either of us are up for any entertainment anyway," he answered while gesturing toward Jessica.

She frowned, but nodded quietly.

Silence draped itself over the interior of the jet for the next twenty minutes; not that Steve was complaining. In between his deep introspective inner monologues detailing his feelings on Jessica's reveal, he pull his gaze from the single blue knob on the console that he was using to focus his mind and stare awkwardly, but subtly at Carol for a few fleeting moments at a time.

The artist in him found her to be the perfect subject. High cheek bones, perfectly blue eyes, gorgeous blonde hair, delicious looking lips, cheeks that fit the contour of his hands perfectly as he would pull her into their first kiss in the light summer night drizzle in the middle of –

_Damn it, Rogers, snap out of it!_ he chided himself. He shook his head and sighed. It was getting bad now. If he could tell, if Tony, who admittedly was a lot more perceptive than a lot of people, could see it, then what if she could? She hadn't decked him yet, but he didn't dare think that that meant that she was flattered. What if she had to resist rolling her eyes every time he spoke to her? What it –

"Does something interest you over here?"

_Nothing but you,_ he almost said, but thankfully stopped before it was too late. But in doing so, his reply came out as a jumble of confused words and half sentences. "Um," he cleared his throat, "I, uh, was just watching you operate the, uh, controls. I've always been interested in how these things work, but, uh, never got the chance to ask a pilot during the war," he managed to stumble, bumble, and trip his way into a coherent answer.

"I see. I can show you sometime, if that's the truth."

He smiled genuinely. "Sure. I'd like that." He sighed and tap his hands against his thighs. It was going to be a while before they arrived the coordinates, so he decided to strike up a conversation. "So, back in my day," _great start, old timer,_ "only fellas were allowed the military. But I, uh, always thought dames like you were just as capable as the guys."

"Excuse me?"

He apparently missed her agitated tone, so he continued without missing an unfortunate beat. "Yep. You're not like those girls my friend and I liked to take out. They couldn't handle the stuff you've probably seen in your career." He smiled, completely oblivious to the withering look she was giving his reflection in the windshield. "Yep, dames like you give women a great name, in my opinion."

He flashed his signature Captain America Smile™ and turned his head to face her. A smile never faded from a man's lips faster than it did from Steve's." Is– is there something wrong, ma'am?"

"You're going to wanna never call me a dame again."

"B-but before… it's been used to address women in authority. And you, being a Captain in the Air Force, have authority over those under you so… you're a dame," he finished lamely.

"You're going to wanna never call me a dame again."

"Yes ma'am."

Steve sat like a child awaiting punishment from their stern father. Looking back, he kicked himself for being an idiot and not only ruining his image in her eyes, but also ruining what chance he had with her. "I'm sorry. Old habits die hard, I guess."

"I've heard that before," she replied promptly. It didn't sound like she believed him.

"Well, I was born in the twenties. It was all the rage back then. I'm not making excuses, but I just have no clue how to talk to women like you."

She activated the autopilot and turned her chair to face him. "What do you mean women like me?"

_Really pretty women._ As much as he wanted to say that, he was certain he looked pathetic enough as was, with his slumped shoulders and expression not unlike a kicked puppy. "Women who remind me of my girlfriend from the war. She died earlier this year, and I've had trouble coping with it."

"I'm sorry," she said with a frown.

"Don't be. I was a fool to try and share anything meaningful with her now. Two weeks after the Battle for Manhattan, I made the mistake of telling Tony about how close she and I were. He looked her up and pulled some strings to have her moved from her home in London to her niece's place in Brooklyn. The Battle was mid-June; and by Fourth of July, she was sitting in my living room with the others singing me a happy birthday."

He cursed inwardly when his voice hitched involuntarily. The last thing he wanted was for anyone to think he was trying to get sympathy.

"We dated for a bit," he continued after regaining his composure. "She never got married. Well, I guess if you count being married to the job as a marriage, then yeah. Her niece is really swell, though. Her name is Sharon, and she works for SHIELD."

An entire life lived without him. He often wondered after her funeral how often she stayed up at night wishing he were still around so they could get married. What would their life had been like? Did she miss him during her life as much as he missed her now during his? Was it even fair of him to ask that?

It pained him to even think about.

"We finally had that dance at the Stork Club that I promised her." He smiled sadly to himself.

"How do you even go on, knowing your life will never be what it probably should be?"

He could tell that she was at a loss for words and was just talking to keep him from dwelling on it too much. As much as he appreciated the sentiment, talking about it wasn't very helpful either.

"Because I have to. The Avengers need a leader, and I need them. If I quit now, everything goes to hell."

He turned his chair around, not to face her, but the back of the jet. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jessica, arms folded tightly around her blue and black SHIELD uniform that complimented her figure as well as her yellow and red public uniform. She was likely in her own head right then, and had thus tuned everyone and everything out. He had been there; and he could attest to how not fun it was. "Jessica?"

Her head jolted up, her face taking on the familiar deer in headlights expression that he had apparently made famous during his stay in Stark Tower. "Yes?"

"You'd might as well talk. We'll be in the air for awhile, and the burden of the past is lightest when carried upon three pairs of shoulders." Even when absent, Thor's wisdom was clearly evident.

She frowned. He could tell she didn't want to, and that he was partly to blame. His own shock and anger displayed at her earlier didn't help her guilt, it seemed. "What do you want to know?"

"Everything, if possible. I promise I won't get mad or even a little upset." He smiled sadly again, but with a hint of the sparkle in his eye that made him so trustworthy to begin with.

A moment or two passed before she nodded. Glancing at Carol, who was silently confused, she focused on the ground. "You don't know, so I'll start from the beginning. I was born in London; two parents, dad was a scientist who was researching harnessing and combining different spider adaptive capabilities and then splice them into the human genome.

"They vanished when I was seven, and I was taken in by dad's benefactor, Ophelia Sarkissian." Jessica said the name with so much venom and contempt that Steve was a little shocked. "She took me in and brought me to her organization."

"Hydra," Steve stated.

She nodded. "I was trained by the best agents they had in everything. Combat, infiltration, wet works, every kind of black ops shite you can think of, I've done it at least once. It… wasn't easy. It wasn't even difficult. It was by far the worst time of my life, but by the time I was ten, it was second nature.

"By the time I was thirteen, I was promoted to field ops and killed my target. I wasn't really trained exclusively to be an assassin, like Natasha, but I was trained to do it when asked, and to kill without second thought if necessary.

"I was even given powers. The venom blasts, the pheromones that make men do whatever I want them to do, the ability to fly and stick to walls; all from Hydra. Ironically enough, half of them came from my father's spider DNA research. Funny, that. I can't remember one thing he gave me except that."

Steve listened without saying a word. He figured Hydra was rough on their agents, but she was just a child, being trained to do all of the horrible things that he knew Hydra agents were known and asked to do. He frowned and started to move to sit next to her, but though better of it.

"Ophelia, or Viper as we called her, or Madame Hydra as you call her, watched me from the very beginning. We developed a sort of… mother/daughter type relationship, that grew into something that no mother and daughter would dare partake in."

It didn't take a genius to figure out what she was alluding to. The way she clutched her arms around her body and drew her knees close only confirmed that. This woman took her in and used her as some kind of toy for her own sick amusement. Steve's face twisted into angry scowl as he bored his gaze into the same spot as Jessica's.

"The final three years, if you're wondering. Viper is a lot of things, but a statutory rapist isn't one of them. Anyways, she had me do a lot of things, not the least of which was to assassinate Nick Fury. I failed, obviously. In fact, Coulson was the one who stopped me, at the Triskelion."

"At the what now?" Carol asked.

"The Triskelion. It's SHIELD's global headquarters. The helicarrier is the base of operations, but the Triskelion is where all the… bureaucratic stuff happens," he explained.

"Yeah. When they brought me in, they tore me down. They took a day, and then had everything that I had ever done spread out in front of me. They even knew about Viper's and my… relationship. Fury gave me a choice, leave Hydra and work for SHIELD, or don't and spend the rest of my life in a cell waiting for her to come get me. If that happened, Coulson said he wouldn't hesitate to put a bullet in the back of my skull and go watch Super Nanny." She shrugged. "Well, I suppose you know how the story ends. That was five years ago."

He did know how the story ended, and it wasn't like how all the other stories involving Hydra agents ended. They always crunched a cyanide tablet and killed themselves before the Allies were able to take them in. It was frustrating and sad at the same time. These… maniacs were willing to kill themselves for their insane cause.

In a way, he was able to see the parallel between them and SHIELD. Agents were basically bred to be willing to endure any torture and even death before they gave up anything about SHIELD.

That gave him something to think about.

"Why," he asked. "Why didn't you kill yourself when they brought you in?" In his peripheral vision, he saw Carol's icy stare burning into him, but he didn't care this time. "They gave their agents cyanide tablets, back in my time, to crunch in case they were captured. Why not you?"

She hesitated. Then, in an almost child-like voice, she said, "Because I thought she'd save me. I wanted to be alive so I could feel her warmness around me, so she could tell me it was okay and take me home. And she never showed.

"It was a month between my capture and my agreeing to join SHIELD, and not once did she show up. No undercover agent to break me out, no grand, brazen attack to bust me loose; just thirty lonely nights wondering when Mum was coming to get me." She chuckled bitterly and blinked the tears welling in the corners of her eyes away. "I suppose she didn't want me anymore."

Hearing that, and seeing her on the brink of tears made Steve regret asking her; but at the same time, he didn't. It gave him what he wanted to know, even at the cost of reopening old wounds that had never quite healed. That didn't mean he didn't feel bad. Seeing a lady cry, especially by his doing, always tore him to pieces.

He could still see Carol giving him an ice cold glare. He sighed and sunk his head. "I understand."

"No, you don't. Neither of you do, nor will you ever understand," she spat bitterly. "You know nothing," she said to Carol, "And you only know things from your perspective. Not once did you Allies and SHIELD ever stop to think what we went through; why exactly we act the way we do."

He was a bit surprised by the amount of vitriol with which she spoke, but it was understandable. "Then tell me," he stated simply.

"They readjust our thinking to be more in accord with their line of thinking."

Readjust? "Brainwashing."

To that, she nodded. "You're little friend, Janet van Dyne, will be readjusted. If she hasn't been already."

Steve sat back and frowned helplessly. Janet was going to be turned into one of those… madmen, and there was nothing he could do about it.

"How'd they do it?" Carol asked. He noticed her glare had turned into a sympathetic frown.

"They strap you down for however long and bombard your senses with their propaganda until that's all you can remember. It's all you eat, sleep, breath and have a roll in the hay with for the duration. By the time they're done with you, you'll be yelling 'Hail Hydra' like it was your own name. A month of solitude was how I managed to break free, for the most part. But then, I guess I'm stronger than most."

Steve's frown deepened. Janet didn't look like she had the strongest willpower and she didn't have a soldier registration number to recite like Bucky. She wasn't going to stand a chance once they started.

And once they got her back, she was going crunch down on that cyanide tablet and kill herself, and he didn't want to be there when Tony sank into the deep, almost bottomless well of self-loathing and guilt that he always threw himself into when something bad happened to one of his friends.

But then, he may be down there with him, since it was his idea for her to come with them. Just what he needed, more guilt to pile on top of everything else on his plate.

* * *

_A/N: Big thanks to __**Halcyon Electric**__ for the review and the tip. I agree detailing a little into the non-movie characters would be a big help for those not familiar with that, as well as give the story a fuller feel to it. Also, Zemo may or may not be appearing within a few chapters. _

_And don't let me stop you from writing your stories. I'm a big Carol fan too and would love to see what you can do with her :)_

_Also, I know it seems that Steve was a bit harsh and hard on Jessica, but he really, really, really hates Hydra, with a deep passion, so that clouded his judgment a little._


	14. The Enchantment of Dr Bruce Banner

_A/N: The events in this chapter and the next chapter take place during Chapter 13. Also, I know nothing about bombs, so please forgive my ignorance._

_Disclaimer: I don't own these characters_

* * *

_**The Enchantment of Dr. Bruce Banner**_

**Washington DC, Lincoln Memorial**

It was only a brief thirty minute flight from the helicarrier to Washington DC, but that was half an hour less time for Bruce to disarm the gamma bomb.

The helicopter landed fifty feet from the Lincoln Memorial, and Bruce noticed immediately that the area was almost completely barren, except for a few dozen policemen dressed in bomb squad uniforms and a few armed national guardsmen.

He grabbed his bag and exited the helicopter quickly. The wind from the rotors nearly knocked him down as it lifted the ground and fly to a safer distance.

His soft, but perceptive brown eyes quickly scanned the immediate area. Besides those he had already seen, there was nothing immediately indicative of a trap. He sighed and continued until he was stopped by a soldier.

"Sir, I'm afraid afraid you'll have to vacate the area. There is a very dangerous situation and this isn't the safest place for civilians."

He wasn't sure whether to be thankful or insulted that he wasn't instantly recognizable. He decided on thankful and flashed his usual shy smile. "I'm Dr. Bruce Banner. I was called in to handle thus dangerous situation."

The soldier's eyes flashed with recognition and he moved aside to let him pass.

"Tell everyone here to vacate the area as quickly as possible. Keep going and don't stop until I radio in. This thing could infect half the city if it goes."

The solder nodded and radioed to his team to back out.

"Alright, let's see…" Tentatively, he walked up the steps and zeroed in on the soft, almost inaudible beeping noise coming from behind the statue. "There we are."

The bomb wasn't big. He himself had made bigger when he was employed by the US army. It was only a a foot in length and six inches in height, cylindrical in shape, with a small screen displaying the numbers.

He only five minutes to disarm it.

He breathed out a curse and knelt down in front of it.

The impromptu bomb expert snapped his case open and pulled out a small Phillips head screwdriver. He quickly scanned the device, rolling it around with the utmost care to find where the cover was. He found it and quickly and carefully unscrewed the four screws holding the cover over the wires in place.

What he found was a metal rod, less than two feet in length and three inches in diameter, with a glowing silver ring rapidly moving from one end to the other. The movement was fast enough that Bruce couldn't follow it, and it formed a blue barrier around the rod.

He suspected that the metal rod was what housed the gamma irradiated material that served as the payload. He tilted the device slightly and saw a single red wire running from the end of rod to somewhere within the outer casing of the shell, most like connecting to the timer. There was a magnet in the same end, connected to the same mechanism as the red wire.

His guess, the wire was a relay from the timer to the magnet. Once the timer stopped, or was stopped, the magnet would activate, attracting the ring and stopping the barrier, thus igniting the bomb by exposing the rod to the explosion.

Bruce sighed and carefully placed the device on the ground. Rubbing his eyes furiously, he thought for a moment. The first thing he had to do was get rid of the magnet, so that when he stopped the timer, it wouldn't automatically activate.

Nodding, he reached into his tool kit and pulled out a small pair of pliers. With the focus and calmness of a practiced surgeon, he lowered the pliers into the device and securely grasped the magnet. A small, but firm tug removed it from its place. His small breath was interrupted by a shrill, continuous beep from the device's timer.

"Shit, it's going faster," he breathed hurriedly. His now shaking hands picked up his wire cutters and lined them up with the lone wire in the device. He took a quick glance at the timer and cursed again. It had already gone down to less than two minutes, and was steadily declining with each second.

A minute, thirty seconds.

A slight green tinge crept slowly up his neck and jaw as he let out a shaky breath in a desperate bid to hold the Other Guy back for a few more moments.

A minute, two seconds.

Sweat dripped down his face like a faucet, his hand shook uncontrollably, causing him to almost drop the wire cutters.

Thirty-two seconds.

One more breath, and a prayer to no one in particular that this went how he hoped, and he clipped the wire.

Ten seconds.

The beeping died slowly and the timer went blank with less than ten seconds to spare. "Thank god." His shoulders slumped and his pulse was a thousand miles a second, but he heaved out a breath of relief. He quickly packed the disarmed device in a secured vibranium case and placed it, along with his tools, in his bag.

"Director Fury? All clear here," he informed into his comm link.

The director breathed out a sigh of relief. "Good work, doctor. Get back to the helicarrier as soon as possible. The Masters and Hydra are still at large and we can't afford for anything else to happen."

"Got it." Bruce stood and was about to leave when he heard someone applauding softly. He turned toward the noise and had to stop himself from gawking at the green clad blonde woman who was casually leaning against one of the pillars.

The green, low-cut breastplate with the matching sleeves were adorned with golden regalia that put him in the mind of her being an Asgardian. But from what he heard from Thor, most of them didn't where green leather skirts with black stockings and green high heeled boots. No matter how good she looked in it, and she did. He was repressed, but not blind.

She straightened out and walked towards him, her supple lips curled into a satisfied smirk at his appraising stare. "My, my, you are as smart as they say you are. You managed to solve our little puzzle all by yourself."

Her words were mocking, but her voice was as gentle as a soothing lover. He would know. He raised an eyebrow and fought his baser instincts to keeps his eyes focused on hers. "Let me guess, friend of Thor's?"

"Aye," she confirmed as she stopped a few yards from him right, "I am Amora, of Asgard. And I have been burdened with glorious purpose."

Where did that sound familiar? He was wondering if it was the official catchphrase of Asgard or something.

It was actually funny, in a way, to see someone else speak in the same manner as Thor. It was like meeting someone's family for the first time and realizing that they share many of the same mannerisms.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Amora, but I'm afraid I can't talk right now. I have a lot of stuff to do." With that, he turned and began to walk toward the monument steps.

"Hold, Dr. Banner," she demanded gently as she suddenly appeared in front of him. "I am afraid I can't let you leave. Not until I have had my fun with you."

He didn't bother asking how she knew his name. "Fun? With me?" he questioned.

"Yes, with you. I have oft found you mortal men to be particularly fun to play with; much more so than the pitiful fools that parade their 'masculine' wiles through Asgard. You are much more… passionate than the so called 'gods'." She smiled, not unkindly, but still with a mysterious seductiveness that made Bruce unnerved.

"I see," he muttered in a measured tone, "that's… that's quite flattering. But, I hope you'll understand that I'm not interested." He blinked and she was gone. He nearly jumped when he felt a pair of small hands running across his chest from behind.

"I believe you misunderstand. It is not you that I wish to play with; well, not this you."

Her touch made his pulse jump up even more than it already was. A calming breath breezed through his nose. "I won't let you… bring him out. I can't."

"You don't have a choice in the matter. We have watched you for some time, you and your allies. Your power is great, your mind greater. Is it not a shame that the two are mutually exclusive?"

That, he could agree with. "Sure. I've felt that for years."

"Oh, I'm sure you have. Moving about, forever carrying that much power within you, deep down inside. Always having to be careful not feel too much in fear of letting the beast out." She cooed softly in his ear, causing a chill to run up his spine.

"Don't you wish that you could let the beast out, just for a second," she whispered dangerously.

There were times, when he was sick and tired of exerting godlike levels of self control and patience, that he wished that he could let go. Just once, for a little while. Of course, where no one could be hurt.

"Of course you do. You are a man with an incredible burden. I'm here to help you let go of it."

"Th-that… that's a nice offer. But if you're trying to seduce me to the dark side under the premise of a smart Other Guy, you're wasting your breath."

"Mayhaps. Mayhaps not. What matters is that by the end of this day, you shall no longer be an obstacle."

He raised an eyebrow and fought the smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Obstacle?" It then dawned in him. "Right, the Masters of Evil. So, they sent you, and only you to deal with me?"

"Aye, that is correct. You'd be a fool to underestimate me, for I have much power at my disposal. Behold." She lifted a hand and snapped her fingers, and suddenly Bruce keeled over from a throbbing pain is his chest. It felt as if he were having heart attack while having someone pin him under a jackhammer. He looked down and saw a bright green glow pulsating through his white shirt.

"What the he–" He was cut off by a another sharp pain in his back, and another down his leg.

"I am called Amora the Enchantress on Asgard, dear Doctor. I am one of the most powerful sorceresses in all the Nine Realms. Your 'power' is infantile compared to mine."

Her other hand departed from Bruce's chest, and a long, ghostly shadow lingered between her hand and his body for a brief second before vanishing.

"As I said, you will not depart until I have had my fun. Well actually, you will be departing."

His heart was racing as blood was pouring out of his wounds. His eyes flashed dangerously green as his glared at Amora with gritted teeth. "Please! You don't know what you're about to unleash!"

She laughed again. "Piteous fool. I know exactly what I'm unleashing. I'm counting on the mindless beast's rage overtaking you!" She dropped a yellow blast that resembled a bolt of lightning at him, hitting him square in the chest.

His control snapped like a dry twig. An inhuman roar escape him as his body already began its frightening change. Bones broke and realigned, muscle tore and grew in mass and his skin turned from pale to sickly green in a matter of seconds. His clothes offered no resistance to his growing size and tore away like pieces of tin foil.

Usually his smarter half went into a coma like state while the Other Guy took control. This time was different. He was cognizant of his surroundings, but was out of control of the Other Guy. It was like he was trapped in the same cage as the Other Guy, but had no input in his actions, and couldn't fight his control like he could his.

He was trapped, only able to watch the destruction personified that was the Hulk.

The deafening roar of the Hulk heralded his arrival.

"Excellent," Amora said as she watched the beast stare her down. He smiled smugly and turned to face him fully.

Hulk lunged, but passed right through Amora. He tried again, but once again, his massive fist passed right through her. "Pitiful ogre. Did you really think you of all people could cause me harm? Away from me." She made a casual gesture in his direction, and a wave of magical energy sent him flying through one of the pillars.

Hulk tumbled to a stop several yards from the monument. He staggered to his feet and growled at Amora, who was still smiling smugly. "Hulk… Hulk Smash!" He smashed his fists into the ground, causing a miniature tremor that sent the Lincoln Memorial tumbling to the ground.

Not caring, Hulk roared triumphantly, thinking that his enemy was killed.

Silent gasps flowed from the hushed and frightened crowd that had assembled nearby to check the commotion. The sound of guns being drawn and cocked drowned them out.

Hulk turned and seemed genuinely confused.

"Hahaha! You dull creature; you don't even realize what you've done," Amora laughed in a fully mocking tone. Hulk faltered slightly at her reappearance, only to growl and roar loudly.

"The hell's he roaring at?!" one officer asked before radioing in for reinforcements.

"Nobody here but us. Make a perimeter about three blocks and wait for the national guard to get here," another officer told him.

Amora watched them talk amongst themselves, unseen by all except the Hulk. She smirked and turned back toward him. "Now then, beast. Have you surrendered?" She vanished and reappeared atop a police car. He snarled and rocketed toward her, again passing through her and crushing the car like a tin can. "Hehe. Like I said, your power is infantile compared to mine."

Hulk exploded out of the wreckage and swung at her again, only to strike another police car, which sailed for nearly three hundred feet and crashed into a building. He tried two more times, and each time, Amora flitted away in time. "You fool. You don't even understand what is at play here."

She floated to a soft landing directly in front of the Washington Monument. She folded her arms, and smirked.

Hulk's eyes began glowing bright green as he continued to grow more and more incensed. He lunged at her for another time, and crashed through the monument like an angry green wrecking ball. The towering white structure fell to the ground in slow motion, resulting in a resounding boom and massive cloud of dust and debris when it finally fell.

The police and soldiers who had just arrived looked in horror as another of the country's beloved monuments was destroyed. "Gas grenades, move in!"

Two pairs of soldiers wielding grenade launchers stalked toward him. Amora snarled and whipped her arm in their direction. "I'm not done with him, you whelps!"

The soldiers were engulfed in a wave of green mystical energy, which reduced them to a twisted, screaming pile of contorted corpses.

"Now then, beast, shall we continue?" She turned and flitted down the street, passing through the screaming, panicking masses as the Hulk chased haphazardly after her.

…

* * *

Fury, Tony, Natasha and Clint, as well as all of the nearby agents assembled on the command deck, all watched the live feed of Washington, mouths agape and unable to formulate any kind of coherent thought.

"Stark," Fury finally managed quietly. Tony didn't say a word but left immediately to go suit up.

"Sir, should we –" Clint began.

"Absolutely not. We need to be ready for anything else that could happen."

"Sir. Satellite imaging just detected Thor reappearing Earthside."

"Call him and tell him to get his alien ass over to Washington, now!" He turned and faced the two antsy agents. "Where's Drew? Her powers can stop the Hulk before this gets any worse."

They both shrugged. "Haven't seen her about thirty minutes."

Fury sighed and tapped his comm. "Agent Drew, drop whatever you're doing and report to the command deck immediately." There was no response. "Agent Drew, respond… dammit. Captain Rogers, report to the command deck immediately. There's a situation." Again, no response. "Where the fuck are they?"

"Sir, they left about half an hour ago. You sent them on a mission, remember?" Agent May informed him.

"What the he– I didn't send them on any missi–… God dammit, Rogers."

"Sir?"

"He went to the Hydra base, even after I told him that it was a waste of time. Agent Drew likely went with him. Son of a bitch." He tapped a screen and watched satellite imaging of Thor turning and flying at speed toward Washington. The sound of Iron Man's thrusters firing sounded just outside the massive window to his left. "You two, suit up and stay on alert. Right now we only have two Avengers available."

As he watched them leave, he reluctantly turned back to the live feed in Washington. Hulk was continuing his rampage, having just destroyed another four buildings, was seemingly tearing through the military and seemed to be headed right for the White House. "Damn it. Hurry it up, Stark."


	15. The Invincible Iron Puppet

_A/N: _**Bold**_ = Iron Man, not Tony. You'll see what I mean in a bit._

_Disclaimer: I don't own these characters._

* * *

_**The Invincible Iron Puppet**_

Tony pushed his thrusters as much as possible in a bid to get to DC and stop Bruce before it was too late.

His mind still couldn't properly process what he had seen on the helicarrier. He was with Fury, Natashalie and Legolas, watching the live feed of Bruce disarming a bomb. Then, when he started to leave, he stopped and stood there for five minutes, and then, collapsed and hulked out.

Then, all hell broke loose.

He couldn't figure out what happened to Bruce, but he had to stop him before he killed someone.

If he hadn't already.

Tony quickly shook that thought out of his mind, as true as it was, and started descending after he entered DC's airspace. Most of the city was untouched, but two destroyed monuments and a path of destruction from there had been left in the green goliath's wake. Tony cursed and landed next to one of the few conscious soldiers. "Thank god you're here, Mr. Stark!"

"Where's the Hulk?"

Before the soldier could answer, Thor landed a few yards away from them.

"He, ah, he's a few blocks from here. He's tearing through our forces like tissue and he's headed straight for the White House!"

"Worry not, brave warrior, Iron Man and I will subdue the Hulk," Thor reassured in a calming, but firm tone.

"Yeah, what Goldilocks said. We'll won't be long." Tony walked over to Thor and flipped up his facemask. "This won't take long. I've developed a tranquilizer just for times like this. It should have him asleep within minutes."

Thor raised an eyebrow. "Should? Is it untested?"

Tony half nodded and flipped his facemask down when a deafening roar erupted from a few blocks away. The two mighty Avengers shared a wary glance before rocketing over to the source.

The destruction was even worse up close than it looked from the air. The streets, Hulk's footprints were literally embedded almost a full half foot into the ground, with each step cracking the street like a miniature earthquake.

Bruce told him that the angrier he got, the stronger he became. To crack the street by walking, he had to have been beyond pissed.

Another roar thundered from two blocks away, followed closely by a tremendous explosion. "Dammit! Jarvis, what's happening?!"

"_Dr. Banner has just torn through a grouping of tanks that were protecting the White House,_" the calm voice of the AI said.

Tony cursed and nimbly rocketed around buildings to cut across the block. When he arrived, he saw Hulk swinging wildly at the air. He seemed so intent to hit something, but Tony couldn't see anything worth hitting.

Tony and Thor landed a few yards from him and warily approached. "He is enraged far beyond what I have seen from him," Thor noted.

"Yeah," he agreed. "Go up and distract him, while I get this tranq ready." Thor nodded and picked up his pace and approached the green rage monster.

Hulk was just about to punch a defenseless soldier when Thor grabbed his arm. "Bruce! These soldiers are not the enemy, try to think!" Hulk snarled and whipped his head around to glare at the demigod.

"Yellow Hair keep laughing at Hulk! Hulk smash Yellow Hair!"

Assuming he was speaking of him, Thor frowned and released his arm. "My friend, I am not having jest at your expense, I assure you."

The behemoth heaved out a frustrated snort. "Not Hammer Man. Yellow Hair." He pointed a massive finger behind him, toward a seemingly empty space. Thor raised an eyebrow in confusion. Had the Hulk finally gone mad with anger? Whether that was true or he was just seeing things, he needed to stop and– Thor grunted as he was hit with an unseen force that knocked him back almost a block.

"Point Break?!" Tony turned from Hulk to Thor, and then back to Hulk. Raising his arm with the armed tranquilizer dart, one that was sure to keep Hulk asleep for a few hours, he prepared to fire. "Jarvis, make sure you activate the thrusters. I'm not sure when this will kick in."

There was, strangely, no response from Jarvis.

Tony immediately figured that something was wrong. "Jarvis?" Just then, he heard a brief static feedback, and then his HUD went black. "What the hell?!" He tried to move, but couldn't. It was similar to what happened a few days ago in Jersey.

Just then, the HUD came back online. "Thank god. J, you there?"

Not Jarvis, but Yelena Belova, the other Black Widow, answered him as her smiling face appeared on his HUD. "No, you poor fool."

Tony's eyes widen as he again tried and failed to move an inch. "Yelena Belova? What the hell did you do to Jarvis?!"

She smirked. "Your beloved artificial intelligence has gone to sleep. Can Iron Man come out to play?" Tony felt his arm jerk forward on its own, and his legs turn him in the direction of where Thor landed. "First, let's get rid of this stupid dart, da?"

It fired, and Tony watched helplessly as Thor barely dipped out of the way. "Damn," she uttered in slightly disappointment.

"No! Why are you doing this?!"

"Me? I am not doing a thing. You are." His left arm rose and fired a missile, which struck the White House and exploded. "Like that, for instance."

"NO!" Without Jarvis online, he couldn't activate the manual override or even lock her out of the system. How the hell had she even gotten through his firewalls in the first place?

The suit's thrusters activated and launched him upward before Thor could tackle him from behind. "Iron Man, cease these madness!"

"**Iron Man, cease this madness**," Belova mocked in reply through the suit's speaker system. Somehow, she managed to lock Tony's helmet microphone out and patch in her own microphone in its place. With the suit's robotic, mechanical voice distortion, it sounded no different than when Tony himself was speaking.

Iron Man fired a repulsor at Thor to knock him down and another to send him flying into a nearby building.

"Stop this Belova, before someone gets hurt!"

"Shut up, Stark. There is nothing you can say or do to stop this, so just enjoy the show, and mourn as the last vestiges of your good name are torn to ribbons." There was a gleeful excitement in her voice that made Tony sick with dread.

Iron Man flew over to the smoking hole left in the White House. The dead bodies of dozens of people were strewn along the area where the missile struck. Tony felt his stomach twist into knots and had to fight to hold the anxious vomit back. Screaming interns, reporters, and others came pouring out of the nearest doors when he arrived. The Secret Service confronted him, guns drawn. "Stop right there, Stark!"

"See? And now enjoy the show."

Tony watched, and felt, his arm lift and from it, a powerful repulsor ray fired and blasted through the armed men, knocking most of them either back or away on impact. Those that managed to avoid the blast opened fire, to no avail, and were quickly dispatched.

He was helpless to stop his own armor from marching intimidatingly down the hall. Frightened interns cowered in the corners, their soft shudders squeaking out as the emotionless facemask stared them down in turn.

"You were told this was a weapon, this armor," Yelena taunted as she controlled the armor remotely. "You were told that it was too dangerous for one man to selfishly horde to himself. Now, three years after, it will bite you in the ass."

Tony was about to ask, but the words met a road block and jumbled together into a mass of confusion. She stopped the armor in front of the oval office. "You… you can't!" he managed.

"Yes, we can," she laughed as Iron Man kicked the door in.

Inside, his auditory receptors picked up almost silent fearful quivers from behind the desk. Slowly, the thudding footsteps of the heavy armor approached the desk. Tony was pretty sure the footsteps weren't as loud as his heart was beating.

A gauntlet gripped one end of the desk and sent it flying through a wall. The First Lady screamed along with her daughter, and Tony's heart dropped.

The President, a paragon of calmness under pressure, stood shakily to interpose himself between Iron Man and his family. "P-please, Mr. Stark, whatever you want, take it. But please, don't hurt my family."

"**Hehehe**," Belova laughed. "**It's not your family I want, idiot. Nor anything you have to offer, except…**" An arm rose and a small machine gun popped out of a compartment. "**Mr. President, your services are no longer required.**"

"NO!" Mjolnir crashed through the window and rammed Iron Man into the back wall. Thor quickly followed and stepped in front of the President. "Lord President, take your family and flee from here! Now!"

Without question, the first family rose and ran for the door, where they were met with surviving members of the Secret Service. "Thank you, Thor," the President said before allowing himself to be ushered off.

"Dammit," Belova cursed.

"Ha! Betcha didn't think good ole Thor would show up, did ya, Natasha Jr," Tony taunted, feeling unusually smug for a man in his position. "Hey, Thor, get me out of –"

"You have much explaining to do, Tony," Thor said, not able to hear what Tony was saying.

"**Simple**," Belova spoke, "**I'm tired of being a hero. Look, we try to do good and we almost kill ourselves everyday, and for what? An appearance of the Tonight Show with Jay Leno? That's no reward. If anything, it's a punishment!**"Tony actually agreed with that**. **"**I'm jumping ship. And my first order of business is to destroy DC, kill that useless President, and then join the Masters of Evil. And no one can stop me!**"

Tony prayed, actually prayed, that Thor wasn't as stupid as everyone wanted to make him out to be. _Come on, big guy! Use that brain of yours and realize that it isn't me talking!_

Thor gave him a skeptical look before summoning Mjolnir and smashing him in the face. "I know not what has spell has befallen you, my friend, but the Tony Stark I know would never speak in such a manner."

Tony sighed with relief, which was a lot harder when surrounded by an armored shell. "Ha! In your fucking face, Belova!"

"**Damn you, ublyodok!***" The mini-machine gun fired, pelting Thor with hundreds of rounds a second. Thor stumbled and grunted from the minor wounds, but was no worse for wear. While he faltered, Iron Man flew through the ceiling and headed toward the Senate. Thor collected himself and followed after him.

"Where are you taking me, Belova?" Tony demanded.

"To the Senate, so you can renounce your allegiance to the United States." An evil cackle trickled through his HUD and he grimaced at the implications.

He never considered himself an American patriot; that was always either the media hyping him up prior to Iron Man, and Capsicle's schtick after the Avengers were formed. But he wasn't a traitor; and he certainly wasn't willing to assassinate the President. If that got out, he was ruined. Not just him, but Pepper, Rhodey, Happy, everyone who was even associated with him.

"Stop, you crazy bitch," he roared.

"What's this? The mighty Tony Stark actually begging? I wish I had a camera to record the pathetic look on –" She was cut off by a bolt of lightning sending the armor crashing into the ground. The armor skipped along the pavement, kicking up sparks until it rolled to a stop.

"Release Iron Man at once, demon! So commands Thor, son of Odin!"

Tony could hear Belova rolling her eyes. The armor shot forward and slammed into the Thor, sending both of them barreling through an already barely standing building. The sounds of tons of debris crashing to the ground drowned out the frustrated roars bellowing out of the Hulk.

Thor was hit with a pair of repulsors that sent him crashing into the pavement, even digging a small trench. "I must admit, your suit is powerful," Yelena admitted, much to Tony's disgust.

"Keep your compliments to yourself, Junior," he spat.

Iron Man landed a few yards for the smoking Thor and presumed a taunting stance. "**You could join me, Thor**," Belova said, "**you don't even belong to this world, so it'll be easy!**"

"Nay to thee I say, demon!" Thor tossed him hammer, which was casually dodged. He ducked under the armor's raised arm and picked it up, slamming it into the ground with authority. Tony grunted and groaned from the impact.

"**Fine. Be that way.**" Iron Man blasted Thor with a beam from the chest repulsor, knocking him away. It was about to follow that up when Mjolnir slammed into it from behind and sent it crashing into a building.

It wasn't fun being jostled around like a ragdoll, as Tony quickly found. With each hit, the suit's shock absorbers were being tested to the max. He was going to be sore in the morning. If he was even still alive in the morning, that was.

"Ready to release my shield brother, foul demon?"

Belova chuckled and rose the armor to its feet. "**Hehe. You know, I'm not a demon, neandertalets******. I'm just a man who has grown tired of the fruitless heroics.**"

"Lies! I know that the true Iron Man is under your control, whatever you are!" With that, he burst forward, moving so fast that he actually disappeared from Tony and Yelena's sight.

"What the –?" they said simultaneously before Thor smashed into the armor. The HUD went fuzzy for a moment from the impact as Thor slammed it through a pair of empty tanks before ramming its head into the pavement, creating a yards long trench.

Tony would consider himself fortunate if he came out of this with a concussion after the ringer Thor was putting him through.

"Surrender!"

"**Make me!**"

Thor gritted his teeth and continued to run the armor through the pavement, and even slammed its helmet into the side of a building. He dipped down toward the street again, and Iron Man took that moment to flip its feet up under his stomach and kick him off, using its boot repulsors to blast him skyward.

The armor rocketed after and slammed into him before being knocked away by a hammer swing.

Tony quickly and decisively concluded that this was the worst roller coaster ride he had ever been on. "For the love of God, stop this shit!"

Belova ignored him and continued her vicarious assault on Thor. The two lit up the black, stormy sky above Washington DC with repulsor rays, lightning blasts and missile explosions that shook the city to its core.

Tony had to admit, as much as he hated it, that Belova was adept at using the suit, however she was doing it.

Iron Man fired a repulsor blast at Thor, which knocked his own lightning blast off course. It took that momentary distraction to ram into Thor and rocket toward the Senate building. People below, many with camera phones recording the entire terrifying event, watched and screamed as the two crashed through the roof and landed on the Senate floor.

The senators that were hiding in the building to avoid the Hulk rampage all screamed and scampered toward the back. Iron Man stood tall and stared the frightened men and women down. "**Ladies and gentlemen of the Senate, I am here to inform you that the days of the United States and the rest of this world's being in power are numbered. Soon, a new world order will arise from the ashes and blood pools of the old.**"

"NO! STOP IT! PLEASE!" Tony begged, yes begged.

Belova paid him no attention. "**The Avengers will fall! United States will fall! The entire world will fall upon its knees and pledge its allegiance to its new masters, the Masters of Evil! Fail to do so and die!**" A hatch on the armors gauntlet opened to reveal the laser turrent. It raised its arm and pointed it at the collection of shaking, shivering senators. "**Now then, fall upon your knees, or die.**"

They all looked to the person next to them, as if waiting to see what they were going to do. Most hesitated, but the majority stood tall in defiance.

Belova growled, while Tony laughed weakly. "You should know better than to ask an American to kneel, Junior."

Belova growled again. "**I said KNEEL!**" The laser turrent spat out a bright red light that cut right through the building before it reached a person. Before he was touched, Thor jumped in the way and took the laser to the face. He yelled out in pain as it actually carved a long, shallow cut along his cheek, deep enough to draw blood.

Blood poured down his face from the three inch long cut, but Thor retaliated by creating a thin, localised twister to push Iron Man out of the same hole they crashed through. With a sigh, he turned to the assembly, "Lords and Ladies, words cannot describe the sorrow and guilt I feel for these actions. I hope you can forgive us both and accept my thanks for your bravery and defiance." He smiled ruefully and followed after the twister.

Tony was twisted and spun around in the tornado like a metal sock in a dryer on the tumble cycle. He was literally about to be sick if it didn't end soon. Thankfully, it did, by him slamming unimpeded into the hard pavement below. Not able to brace for the sudden impact, he actually felt his poor brain slam into his hard skull.

"Damn that fucking Asgar–" Belova started before the suit was pelted with a massive lightning bolt.

"I have had ENOUGH!" Thor bellowed. A shiver ran up Tony's spine, and undoubtedly up Belova's, at the righteous fury his voice was imbued with.

The suit stood slowly, mostly because Tony's legs decided to give out right then, and faced him.

"You will relinquish Iron Man at once, demon!" Mjolnir gained a blue and white crackling aura around its head, as if it were attracting lightning. "Face my wrath and perish!" He pointed it at the armor and unleashed a devastating energy blast. It hit Iron Man flush in the chest, actually destroying the Arc reactor.

The charred and mangled armor immediately flopped to the ground. Thor hurried over and pressed the manual release hatch for the facemask, which Tony immediately showed him after he tore his facemask off after the Battle for Manhattan. "My friend, are you well? Are you still require exorcism?"

The armor absorbed the brunt of the blast, but amazingly, there was still enough to destroy the reactor and nearly knock him out. His arms were numb and it was a struggle to breath; though that was probably due to the suit. "…ow."

Now, more than probably ever, he was glad to be rid of the Arc reactor in his chest. "That hurt. And I wasn't possessed, my suit was hacked by Evil Black Widow." Thor's eyes narrowed for a brief moment. It was then that Tony's eyes widened. "Bruce!"

Thor turned and scanned the area. He then looked skyward and could barely make out the Hulk's quickly vanishing figure as it sailed over the horizon. "He is gone. Mayhaps for the better. He –" Thor stopped and stood. Before him, a mere ten yards away, stood Amora the Enchantress, ruby red lips curled into a satisfied smirk.

His stormy blue eyes held her emerald green eyes in a stare, a matching of wills and a matching of his disbelief with her smug arrogance. Disbelief that his friend, since childhood, had defected and joined his brother on the side of evil. His mouth opened, but no words came out right away, other than a hushed, "Amora," as she vanished in a green flash.

"One of yours," Tony inquired as Thor hefted him onto his shoulder and flew off before the authorities could come and apprehend Tony.

"Aye. She is… was a friend. Now, she is an enemy, and surely the one who has Pietro ensnared to her whims. And now, I am sure that she was the one to cause Bruce to go on a rampage." He sighed heavily, and a strong wind brushed by them coincided with this. "Now we must return, for I feel Director Fury will wish to have words with you before anyone else does."

Tony actually dreaded that meeting than any mission briefing or team meeting. After what Belova made him do, and almost made him do, he just wanted to bury himself in the Lab and wait for everything to blow over. A year or three should suffice, he thought.

And it still managed get worse.

Right now, Carol and Bruce were looking like goddamned Nostradamus.

* * *

_A/N: Enjoy and let me know what you think :)_

**Translation**

*Bastard

**Neanderthal


	16. Repercussions and Revelations

_A/N: Since I forgot last chapter, thank you to __**Lips of Yarn**__, __**Skipping Rocks on the Ocean**__ and __**Black Thorn**__ for the reviews :)_

_Disclaimer: I don't own these characters_

* * *

_**Repercussions and Revelations**_

**SHIELD Helicarrier, 11:24 am**

An hour after his nightmare come to life in DC, Tony laid in a hospital bed aboard the helicarrier, handcuffed and in pain. Concussion, broken wrist, bruised chest, two cracked ribs, a bruised knee, and a sprained ankle. Not to mention an unconscious ego and a reputation that would now be better served as fire kindling.

He wasn't sure what was worse; the disgusted, venomous looks the passing agents were giving him, or hearing Thor apologise 132 times that hour.

"Thor, for the 132nd time, I forgive you!" he groaned.

Thor frowned ruefully and bowed his head. "But, it is because of me that you have been so severely injured."

"No, it's because of that Russian bitch that I'm injured. I swear, if I see Black Widow again, I'm gonna do something I won't regret."

"Guess I'll just leave then." Tony looked and saw Natasha leaning against the doorframe, with Clint peaking his head in.

"You," he said, pointing his non-handcuffed arm at her, "I have a beef with your home country."

"Get in line. I have first dibs." She stepped fully inside, but kept her face emotionless and her distance away from his bed as she scanned him. "What happened?"

It was only a matter of time before the interrogations started. Tony sighed. "Your counterpart hacked into my suit somehow and took it for a joy ride, with me in it. All that stuff you saw me do on the news, all her doing." It hurt, but he managed to chuckled. "At least I got to experience being inside a tornado first hand."

"And for that, I am immensely –"

"That had better not be an apology about to come out of your mouth, Point Break."

Thor sighed and looked at Clint, who just shrugged. "At any rate," the latter said, "this looks bad."

"That's an understatement, Katniss. I can actually hear my merch being pulled from the shelves and shat on."

"This is serious, Tony," Natasha stated tersely. "This isn't good for any of us."

Tony raised an eyebrow and considered her. "What do you mean us?"

"You, your ugly mug is the face of our 'franchise'," Clint explained, "you do, or are made to do shit like this, are used as a mouthpiece for treasonous shit like that, then that reflects bad on us. Not only that, but it makes the people wonder if we all feel that way."

"They shall lose trust in us because of this," Thor added.

Tony allowed his head to drop onto the pillow. "Damn it. This is what they want. This was their plan, chip away until there's nothing left."

"What do you mean?" Natasha asked.

"I mean, how many times have we actually fought the Masters? Any of them? Once, and that was a distraction. Their plan was never to fight us head on all the time. It was hit and run; do just enough to break us down, before they break us for good. And damn them if it isn't working."

"A few quick jabs to start, then the heavy body blows. I don't know when, but the right hook for the knock out is coming," Clint said as he took a seat in a chair next to the bed.

"A boxing analogy, Clint? What are you, Spangles, now?" Tony laughed before wincing from the pain. He paused, then became uncharacteristically quiet. "Any idea what will happen to me?"

Natasha pursed her lips and sat on the arm of Clint's chair. "The President ordered that we detain you on the helicarrier until they come to arrest you. The only reason it hasn't happened yet is because Director Fury is stalling for time. When they arrest you," he noticed she didn't say if they arrested him, "you'll be tried, convicted and probably executed."

The air was sucked out of the room with those words, spoken with the same hard professionalism that Natasha was known for. But he had known her long enough to detect the almost imperceptible tremble in her voice.

"If not, you'll be buried underground in a maximum security prison off the mainland for the rest of your life. Probably in solitary confinement," Clint added with a helpful tone, though Tony didn't see it as such.

"I saved the guy's life from Killian last year; doesn't that mean anything?"

"Probably why we haven't been ordered to kill you on sight," Natasha answered. She folded her arms and looked at him in a way that he didn't think was even possible. With pity. Why not? He was only the biggest traitor this side of Snowden. "Look, you can't stay here."

He frowned with confusion. "What?"

"Fury can hold the President off for so long before he comes for you anyway. You can't be here when that happens. You need to leave."

"I can't," he said without hesitation. "There's too much going on, too much at stake for me to abandon you all now."

"Dammit Tony, this is the wrong time for you to be selfless!"

"Wrong time?! This is the right time from where I'm standing! I'm a wanted criminal and we still have a group of lunatics who want to kill us! What else am I supposed to do?!"

"Lay low," she answered. "The President doesn't know who these people are. What he does know is that you declared yourself one of them and nearly killed him. Don't think the FBI and CIA won't do what it takes to bring you in."

"She is right, my friend. Think of how your demise will affect Lady Pepper."

Tony froze. If they took Pepper to get to him, he couldn't live with himself. He knew that this country didn't fuck around when it came to traitors and terrorism, which was exactly what 'his' actions amounted to. "Shit."

Natasha pressed her lips into a thin line and opened the handcuffs that kept him bound to the bed. Apparently the agents that accompanied the doctor who worked on him thought he was a flight risk. Tony rubbed his freed wrist out of compulsion and stared out the window.

For a moment, he wished he could jump out and fly away. Just him and Pepper, and just get away from everything. Their jobs, their troubles, people. It was always his dream, funnily enough. Once he finished his job as Iron Man, and finally got tired of trolling the public, he would just vanish with Pepper to some far away place and be happy together.

Now he had a chance, just not on his terms. He didn't like doing anything on someone else's terms.

He turned his head and picked his phone up from the table beside his bed. Silently, he scrolled through his phonebook until he reached Pepper's number. A deep breath escaped him as the phone rang.

Natasha, Clint and Thor took that as a cue to leave. Quickly the shuffled out one by one until Clint closed the door behind them. "Shit," he said, echoing Tony's sentiment.

"Indeed," Thor agreed. "I do have news from Asgard," he said, trying to change the subject.

"About the sorceress?"

"Aye. Her name is Amora the Enchantress, and she is of Asgard. She is a sorceress of great power; possibly on par with my brother Loki." The mention of his name still sent chills of Clint's spine. "She wields a great number of spells, but her speciality is mind control via seduction. It is she that has ensnared Pietro and coaxed him into attacking Wanda."

Natasha and Clint both shared the same passively agitated expression. "Any idea how to find her," she asked.

"Nay. But, I did see her in Washington. If Tony says that this Yelena Belova was the one who possessed his armor, then I believe Amora had something to do with the Hulk's rampage."

"How do you figure?" Clint asked as he and Natasha watched Director Fury and Agent Hill stride down the hall from over Thor's shoulder.

"It would serve the Masters of Evil well to rid themselves of the Hulk, would it not? That is exactly has transpired with the Hulk fleeing from Washington. Her involvement explains much. But what I do not understand is why."

"Why is irrelevant," Fury said as he and Hill walked up to the door. "Right now, we need you to figure out how to stop her. You two, get to the bridge and try and get in contact with the Quinjet Rogers is in."

He watched them leave before he and Hill entered the room. They found Tony sitting on the edge of his bed, having just gotten off the phone. He was, Fury noticed, noticeably shaken. "I assume that was Ms. Potts."

"You didn't make an ass out of you and me," Tony replied less than half-heartedly.

Fury sighed and nodded. Placing the case he was carrying down beside him, he cut to the chase. "In Jarvis' code, there was a backdoor; small, unnoticeable if you weren't looking for it, right?"

"Yeah," Tony answered. "I put it there in case I needed to upgrade him so I wouldn't have to sift through ten layers of firewall."

"You and I are the only two in the world that know its location. I have that information encrypted on a ghost drive and classified at Level Ten. Only my and Romanoff's eyes can see it."

Tony frowned. And then it hit him. "When Hydra hacked…"

"That's what they took. It was one file, so it didn't appear that anything was missing. I assumed that they were just taunting us. I was wrong."

Tony barked out a curse and hurled the room's telephone into the wall. "How the fuck did they even know where to find it?! Or that it was even there?! You just said only you and Romanoff could see it!"

"Secrets and rumors circulate this helicarrier everyday," Hill explained with a passive demeanor. "Top secret information gets blabbed out by mistake and dismissed as rumor. It's the nature of the beast of this magnitude."

"And I'd be shocked if Hydra didn't have at least one spy in our midst." Tony and Hill both shot looks at Fury, whose expression didn't change an iota. "It's the nature of the spy game, Mr. Stark. We place an agent within them, while at the same fucking time, they're putting one within us. It's how it works, and it only makes us better with how we handle our secrets."

"Well you failed this time, bucko," he spat more bitterly than he intended. "My life is in shambles because some scrotum sucking secretary ran her fucking mouth one too many times. This kind of shit doesn't get out on its own, Nick. Spy or no spy."

If there was one thing Fury never wanted to hear, it was Tony calling him by his actual first name. He grimaced and picked the case up again. "You're right. There's an investigation underway as we speak. Agent Coulson and Agent Thirteen are handling it. When they find out who leaked and when they find and interrogate the double agent, we'll present everything to the President. After that, you can come home."

That sounded too much like bureaucratic proceeding, ie too slow for Tony's tastes. Still, it was better then what he was thinking, which was only going to make things worse. For himself and SHIELD. "What's that?"

"Your ticket out of here. We closed the backdoor into your suit, so you shouldn't have any trouble. Once you get settled, you'll have to clean Jarvis yourself." He handed him the suit and watched him open it.

"The Stealth suit? Didn't know you still had it."

"I won't lie and say we didn't at least try to replicate it. Couldn't."

"Of course not; you're not me."

A small smile played across Fury and Hill's lips. "We'll escort you out. You have four hours to leave the country and go ghost before the President sicks the hounds on you."

Tony sighed and gripped the case's handle a little tighter. "Right." They turned and he followed them out. It felt not unlike a walk of shame, which he had taken more than his fair share of. The agents he passed all stopped to stare at him, with looks ranging from anger to disgust to pity. It all made him sick to his stomach.

It disgusted him to no end to know that the Masters had yet another victory over them. They were light-years ahead of them; so far that they might as well have still been at the starting line. _I hate this_, he thought.

They are reached the door to the top deck. "Stay low and stay safe, Stark," Hill said.

"Thanks. You know, either stay or leave, the Masters get what they want; me out of the picture."

Fury nodded. "I know. I hate it, too. They're good. Better than any of us thought."

Tony suited up, cloaked in a shell of blue and black gold titanium alloy, eyes of red and a red arc reactor illuminating the dark corridor. "That was our mistake," he said before turning to walk out the door. "I'll be watching, Fury. You need me, I'll be there."

And he was gone.

Fury and Hill walked slowly back to the bridge. "Sir, do you really think we have a double agent?"

"I do."

"How can you be so sure?"

Fury didn't answer for a long while. It was too loaded a situation for him to be wrong. Right then, they all needed to have absolute trust in one another so as to not have any hesitation in their actions. Someone was spying on them from within, it was the only answer.

Who was a question of even larger consequence.

There were almost a hundred different agents who walked the metal halls of the SHIELD helicarrier daily. It could, literally, be any one of them. There were a few he could rule out; himself, Hill, Coulson, Barton, Romanoff, Drew, Rogers. Any and everyone else was up for debate.

"Sir?"

Fury looked at his second-in-charge and sighed. "What other explanation could there be?"

Hill sighed and let her mask drop for a single second. "None, sir."

"Hill, check in with Coulson and Carter and make sure the investigation is going in the quickest but best way possible. Give them help or assign agents as you see fit. I want this done and cleared up within two weeks, understood?" She nodded firmly, masked slipped back into place, and strode off to find Ageny Coulson.

Fury sighed again. _Damn you, Viper. How many times can you screw me over._

* * *

_A/N: Let me know what you all think :)_


	17. Revelations and Retaliations

_Disclaimer: I don't own these characters_

* * *

_**Revalations and Retaliation**_

**Hydra Outpost Base. Nunavut, Canada. 3:15 pm**

_"…and fortunately, there were not nearly as many casualties as there possibly could have been. But after yet another rampage by the Avenger known as the Hulk, one that ended with dozens of casualties and the destruction of two national monuments, as well as the shocking attack by Iron Man, the entire country is left picking up the pieces and wondering are our heroes…"_

_"…terrorist attack by so-called hero Tony Stark, whom I've said repeatedly is nothing more than a selfish, conceited clown, and this today proves it! The Avengers…"_

_"…Stark's statement to the Senate was recorded on cellphone, and he confirmed that he has switched sides to the Masters of Evil. We don't know who these Masters of Evil are, or if the other Avengers plan on joining him…"_

_"…I'm not surprised at all by Stark's betrayal. He's always been the most flaky out of all of them, and that's saying a lot with how shady some of them are. I mean, a woman who uses guns, a witch and a man who claims to be God. This proves the Avengers are terrible influences on our children and they all need to be locked up forever!…"_

_"…First Quicksilver attacks Scarlet Witch, then Hulk loses his crap, then Stark goes and declares war on the country. I mean, who the hell are these people?! I mean really, who are our heroes behind closed doors?!…"_

Gene Khan, also known as the Mandarin, smiled to himself and turned off the television within the large conference room within the Hydra outpost. Every major news channel in the States, as well as around the world was saying the same thing. Tony Stark was a traitor and needed to be dealt with. Hulk was a monster and needed to be dealt with.

The Avengers' credibility was crumbling before the wide open eyes of the collective world, and he and his cohorts were waiting to deal the final blow. Their resolve was in shambles, without a doubt. Their numbers had been carved nearly in half and four of their most powerful members were either in the wind, on their side, or dead or dying.

"Haha! This worked out so much better than I thought it would," he laughed.

"Aye. I would not have dared imagine a better outcome," Amora agreed.

"You did good, Yelena," Viper commended the young spy. "The mighty Iron Man has fallen. I don't doubt that Fury has let him run off into the wind, so we may never find him."

"Don't worry about that. Tony is a hero; he can't help it. Once our plans have reached their crescendo in a few days, he'll come," Gene stated. He smirked and watched Pietro stare out the window. "Why haven't you sent him to finish the witch off?"

"What good will having him slit her throat in the privacy of her recovery room when I can have him do it in public, with everyone watching?" Amora explained. She stood and walked over to the young mutate, wrapping her delicate arms around his shoulders. "Oh, my sweet Pietro. Soon, and we shall rid ourselves of that wretched Wanda forever."

"Soon, and we shall rid ourselves of those wretched Avengers forever," corrected a man who sat at the end of the conference table. Baron Helmut Zemo, the mastermind behind and the leader of the Masters of Evil, stood and walked around the conference room. He was dressed in a black uniform with white gloves, white boots and a white belt. A light purple mask covered his head and face, and was attached to a stripe down the center of his chest of the same color that ended above his abdomen. On his hips rested a sword on the left and a WWII era Walther P-38 handgun on the right.

"Once we have disposed of the Avengers, we will need to find and deal with Stark and Banner as well," he continued, his German accent slurring his words only just slightly. "They are loose ends, and I do not like leaving loose ends undone."

"I assure you Tony will show," Gene insisted. "Banner is a different issue."

"The spell I laid upon the doctor trapped his human mind in a cage within the monster," Amora said, "the dull creature is too dim to understand what is happening and too frightened to show his face again."

"Good," Zemo said, "we will find and deal with him once everything is taken care of. More than likely we can just sell him to General Ross. The old fool will pay a fortune for that beast."

As the others laughed at this, a woman in the corner cleared her throat. Dr. Karla Sofen, the psychiatrist who spoke with Yelena the night before, had arrived that morning to speak with Zemo about the captured alien. She decided to stay and hear what they had to say in regards to other matters, like the Avengers SHIELD. So far, she was impressed by what she heard and saw.

"So, doctor. What do you think of our plan?"

She bit her lip and thought for a moment. "You all seem to have all your ducks in a row." She noticed Amora staring at her blankly, and sighed. "You have everything in order. Plus you've made the Avengers look like fools on national television not once but twice."

"I feel a but coming," Gene said dryly.

"But, I am just a psychologist. While I could possibly make a not insignificant fortune listening to all of your sob stories, I'm not sure what I'd add to this team."

"In short, muscle, Dr. Sofen," Zemo stated matter-of-factly. He chuckled when given a transparently confused look. "Don't play coy, doctor, not with me. I know a superhuman when I see one."

She raised an eyebrow. "Do you, now?"

"Oh ja. It takes a careful eye, but the signs are very noticeable. The way you take care not to grasp anything too firmly. Take when we shook hands earlier, for instance. Your grip was like a vice despite your visible grasp being very loose."

"Or maybe you're just a pansy," she countered. She folded her arms and crossed her legs in annoyance.

Zemo breathed out a chuckled and turned his back to her. "Very good, Fräulein. Very good." Faster than most in the room, that was to say everyone but Pietro, could react, Zemo drew his handgun and fired a round at Karla, aiming for her left eye. The bark of the powerful gun startled those nearby.

Nothing happened.

She didn't slump over, recoil or otherwise react other than flash a very annoyed glare his way.

"Well?" they heard Pietro say, "Show them."

She rolled her eyes and dropped the fired bullet. Apparently, in the time the bullet took to reach her, she caught it before it hit her and resumed her posture before anyone not named Quicksilver noticed.

"See? Very impressive," Zemo complimented.

"What exactly did that prove?"

"That I was right, and you are deserving of a place on this team. You, Dr. Sofen, are the tipping point in this battle. The Odinson is powerful. More so than anyone else on either the Masters of Evil or the Avengers. While not as powerful, you're close enough to gain his attention."

She sighed. "But I'm not an evil person."

"None of us are. But we have power and the vision to lead this world into a brighter, better future. The Avengers stand in our way, and will never join us. So, the path to the future must be paved in corpses and cleansed by blood. Their blood."

A single Hydra agent stalked in and saluted Viper. "Madame Hydra, forgive me, but the sensors have picked up a lone aircraft hovering a thousand feet above the base. It looks to be one of SHIELD's Quinjets."

Viper narrowed her eyes and cut a glance toward Zemo. "I wonder how they managed to find us," he questioned knowingly.

She fought a smile and stood. "Let's see how, then. Dr. Sofen, would you like to accompany us?"

Karla stood and followed Zemo and Viper out, while the others flipped on the television to the outside security cameras.

* * *

Steve watched the radar, and then looked out the front windshield. Both the radar, and his eyes told him that there was nothing there.

"It should be right bloody here, I swear!" Jessica insisted.

"Well, I don't see anything but a hundred miles of ice," Carol countered. "So either you're mistaken or the place had been blown up since you were last here."

Jessica made an annoyed grunt in protest. "It's okay, Jess. They're probably somewhere else."

"But –!"

Steve sighed and turned back to the radar. Still nothing. They had just wasted five hours on an assumption that appeared to be wrong. While it was good to rule out this location, they didn't have much time to waste, and a few SHIELD agents could have accomplished the exact same thing.

He had the terrible feeling that things were going wrong in their absence. He always thought that way, but usually it was just that someone would try and cook and burn the whole tower down. Now, after having headache after headache heaped on them…

"Um, guys, I may have been wrong."

Steve averted his attention back to the radar, and sure enough, three small pings were flashing across the screen. Steve looked out the windshield and tried to see with his sharp vision. He could hardly believe what he saw. "Zemo," he breathed in a voice so hushed that Jessica didn't hear him, despite being right next to him.

"Steve, what do we do now?" Carol asked.

"Land the jet."

"Are you sure? I thought we were going to avoid –"

"I said land the goddamn jet!"

Both women flinched at his outburst. Even he immediately regretted using that kind of language. Carol silently obeyed his order and lowered the jet until it touched down on a sturdy patch of ice with a soft jostle. Steve grabbed his shield and immediately went to open the back. The cold air hit him like a punch to the face, but if it affected him or his stress disorder from seventy years in the ice, he didn't let it show.

Jessica followed close behind after wrapping herself in a heavy coat and hat. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest at the thought of being near Viper again. Just looking at the woman made her knees weak and breath catch in her throat.

"Well, look who's come home," Madame Hydra said. She flashed a fanged grin at her former top agent. She saw and relished at the shiver it produced.

"Steve," Jessica whispered nervously from behind him.

"Get it together, Drew," he hissed in reply. He then his attention to Zemo, who was standing in between Viper and Karla. Steve didn't know who the two women were, but he knew the Baron better than anyone else.

"Captain America, long time no see," Zemo greeted with mock joviality.

"Zemo," he spat. "How are you alive again, Heinrich?"

"Helmut," he corrected. "You killed my father, if you recall. You do recall, in your old age, correct?"

"You're hardly one to talk. What are you, 83?"

"Correct, captain." He eyed Jessica for a lengthy moment. "I see you found one of Viper's abandoned mutts. Tell me, do you Avengers have a habit of picking up strays?" Before Steve could answer, he answered himself, "Of course you do; you allowed those mutated twins to join your ranks. I must say, you have an incredible eye for talent. But then, so do I."

It took every fiber of Steve's being not to shoot Zemo dead right them and there. The son of a Nazi scientist, one of Hitler's brightest and the Red Skull's most trusted ally, outside of Zola. He didn't know why or how he was still in the prime of his youth, it seemed, at that age. Right then, it didn't matter.

It had just gotten much more personal for him.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked.

"Why? You should know, I am a man who descends from a legacy of greatness. Beginning with Harbin Zemo in 1480 down to today, the Zemos have been men of legend, with each one being greater than the previous. What better way to cement my own legacy than to do what no man has done before and conquer the world? And what better obstacle to overcome on my rise to greatness than the mighty Avengers themselves?"

To this, Steve grimaced. He was just like his father in every way. Both were arrogant, full of themselves with false delusions of grandeur that blinded them from the truth. He didn't sound like the prototypical bad guy, because he, like his father Heinrich, didn't think he was a bad person. Those were the worst types of villains, because they were the kind to attract all sorts of help.

"You'll fail," he said.

"Not likely," Helmut retorted. "You… haven't watched the news within the last few hours, have you?"

He frowned. "No, I haven't."

"See that you do. I am certain that the Sentinel of Liberty will be pleased to see the destruction of his nation's capital by two of his own."

Steve froze as his mind tried to process that. Had something happened in Washington while they were gone? If so, he wouldn't be able to live with himself if someone was killed. And what was that business about two of his own doing it? "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Ah ah ah, I'd hate to spoil it for you," he taunted. "But really, there is nothing you can do to stop us, Captain. You'd be better served just laying down your arms here and now and saving us all the trouble."

"That's not gonna happen."

Zemo sighed and reached for his pistol. "Always the hero, eh, Captain?"

Steve rose his shield and Jessica ignited her hands with bioelectric energy. The tension skyrocketed in an instant. A cold wind snapped through them, chilling them to the bone, not that they let it show. The two pairs stared each other down, both daring the other to make the first move.

"Captain, you should–"

The sound of a large rifle being cocked drew their attention away from each other and onto Carol, who had exited the jet brandishing a large military grade assault rifle. "Alright, that's enough. Throw your weapons on the ground and put your hands in the air. Now!"

Zemo and Viper shared a wary glance before doing so, taking the belts holding their weapons off and tossing them to the ground before holding their hands up in defeat. Only Karla stood with her arms folded in defiance.

Carol trained the rifle on Karla. "Listen lady, do not test me. Now put your hands in the air, or I will shoot." Steve couldn't help but smile a little. She was being so very attractive right now, he thought. He was standing in front of her, but he could imagine how beautiful she looked with that big gun. _No! Get it together, Steve!_

"Please. I don't take orders from chunky, uneducated townies."

Carol, a Bostonian who was certainly not chunky, grunted unceremoniously. "Cute," she said before firing a round, aimed for Karla's eye.

"Carol!" Steve barked in disbelief.

"What? My finger slipped." She turned and couldn't stop her mouth from falling open. Karla, who was hit dead on by the bullet, was still standing in the same defiant manner. The only signs that the bullet had even hit her were the hole in the lens of her glasses and the now flatten bullet falling away from her uninjured eye.

"I hope your roadside diner waitress job affords you enough money to replace my frames. They aren't cheap, you know? Of course you don't; everything you're wearing is cheap." She scoffed and threw them aside.

The shield slinging Captain frowned and stepped in front of the gun toting Captain. This wasn't the way it was supposed to go. That was his fault, he supposed; he was the one who ordered her to land the jet, after all. But after seeing Zemo from up there, he felt compelled to confront him. They were already there against implied orders, and it was about to get a lot messier.

Putting his hands up in a peaceful manner, he said, "It doesn't have to be this way, Zemo."

"Hm? Where is your bravado now, Captain? Are you actually afraid for your woman over there?"

Hearing him refer to Carol as 'his woman' made his bristle. He shot her a quick glance; he hadn't seen a woman that stony-faced in a long while. "Carol? What caliber is that gun?"

".50 cal," she answered promptly.

He smirked and stepped out of the way. "Helmut, you asked where my bravado is. It's standing behind right behind me. Light 'em up."

The .50 assault rifle barked like a pack of angry, rabid dogs. Bullets whistled through the air faster than Zemo or Viper could even think. They would have been mulch, had Karla not jumped in front of them to take barrage head on. She grunted at almost each impact, all of them tearing through her white satin dress shirt, revealing the pink lace bra she was wearing underneath. Some of the shots drew blood, others didn't, but they all bounced off of her impossibly hard skin and muscle mass and clinked against the hard icy ground.

When the smoke cleared, Zemo and Viper were still standing, just as startled and surprised as the heroes were at the guns ferocity, and just as dumbfounded that they were still alive.

"Ah… aheh. You see Captain, you can't win, even with your powerful weapons. Now, Dr. Sofen, would you be so kind as to show the Captain and his ladies what true power is?"

"Sure." She sauntered toward them, her exposed chest bouncing ever so slightly with each step. Of course, Steve felt his cheeks glowing bright red at the display. "You know, _chowdahead_, that's now a pair of designer frames and an Italian satin shirt that you owe me."

"Don't forget this!" Jessica leaped in front of Steve and fired a stream of bioelectric energy at Karla. The blonde ducked out of the way and closed the gap in the time Jessica's foot took to touch the ground. She casually swatted her back, sending her flying. "Uff," she grunted as she slammed hard into the Quinjet.

"Spider-Woman!" Steve bellowed. He hesitated for a moment, one that allowed Karla to push him back nearly thirty feet. He slammed into the ice, and felt like his shoulder was dislocated.

"Shit!"

"What's wrong, _Masshole_? Not so brave and authoritative now, hm?" Karla stepped up to Carol and stared her down. A haughty smirk flashed across her lips.

"Ya got one more time, bitch. I ain't afraid of ya." She was answered by a fist being driven into her diaphragm that actually lifted her feet from the ground. The air left her lungs with resounding force, and was accompanied by a pathetic moan before she passed out.

"Pathetic. It's not about being afraid; it's about knowing and appreciating that you're at the bottom of the pecking order and respecting those above you."

Steve watched Carol slump to the ground and felt something twinge inside him. She was hurt, because of him. She and Jessica were in danger, because of him. They weren't going to die because of him.

He roared and threw his shield as hard as he possibly could.

Karla batted it away with the utmost ease and sent a small blue ball of energy at Steve in retaliation. He dove out of the way just before it struck and detonated the ground were he had been previously standing. The resulting explosion tore up the ice near him and sent him flying until he landed with a solid thud. He groaned audibly, so they knew he was still conscious.

"That's quite enough, doctor. I believe we have made quite an impression on them, so let them run with their tails tucked between their legs." Karla smirked and followed Zemo and Viper inside. "It's been a pleasure, as always, Captain."

It would be a few moments before Steve could drag himself to his feet. Today was a complete and utter disaster. Jessica and Carol had been hurt. The Masters were aware that they now knew their location, and would likely speed up their plans. Carol and Jessica were unconscious and likely hurt. He'd gladly endure a day long profanity laced lecture from Fury in the middle of rush hour in a strip club for them to come away from this with only bruises.

"Damn it," he muttered.

He went and collected his shield, and then scooped Carol up in his arms and placed her in the jet. He sighed and did the same for Spider-Woman. She was bleeding from her forehead, so he spent a few minutes tending to that before climbing into the pilot's chair.

It was going to be a long flight back to New York.


	18. Seeds of Mistrust

_Disclaimer: I don't own these characters._

_**Seeds of Mistrust**_

**SHIELD Helicarrier, 9:56 pm.**

It was a long, long flight back to New York for Steve. Being defeated and having teammates injured tended to do that. They were okay, according to the SHIELD doctors. Carol only got the wind knocked out of her and had, in her words, a wicked painful bruise on her midsection. Jessica had a nasty cut on her forehead and concussion, but would be fine.

He felt better, but still felt that everything about that could have gone better.

To make matters worse, he just finished watching a replay of the incident in Washington. He was speechless for almost ten minutes before letting out a string of curses that would have filled up the swear jar he once made Bucky walk around with when they were younger three times over.

Coulson told him what had happened, that Belova hacked into Tony's suit and made him do those things. That didn't explain the Hulk, but it didn't take much to set him off, so it honestly could have been anything.

Now, Tony and Bruce were gone and they still had no way of countering their numbers or strength. Thor could only handle so much.

Chalk up another victory for the Masters.

"Did you enjoy Canada, Captain?"

Great, just what he needed. He turned and faced Fury with what hr hoped was something resembling a serious look. "No sir, I didn't. Zemo."

He heard Fury cut whatever he was about to say off. "Helmut Zemo? I didn't know he was still alive."

"Alive and seemingly in the prime of his youth, somehow. Listen, sir, if I had known –"

Fury stopped him with a raised hand. "Forget it, it's in the past now. And it wasn't as if it didn't bear any fruit at all. Danvers and Drew are fine, and will be back up in a few days. We're looking into finding replacements for Stark and Banner; and Maximoff is looking better by the hour. She might wake up in the next few days."

Finally, some good news. To that, Steve smiled and let out a small sigh. It had barely been a day since she had been attacked, but it felt like it had been so much longer than that. "That's good to hear, sir."

"It is. Listen, it's not be safe for you or the Avengers to stay here on the helicarrier."

Steve frowned heavily. "Why's that?"

"To put it bluntly, Hydra has a double agent in our midst. I don't know for how long, but I do know that whoever it was supplied Hydra with the knowledge that there was a backdoor into Jarvis that they could exploit, as well as the location of the file detailing its location and passcodes. When they hacked us last week, that's what they took."

Steve pressed his lips into a thin line and breathed out a sigh. "Damn it."

"Until further notice, the Avengers are to remain in Stark Tower. I'm told that Stark has already shut Jarvis down for cleanup, so it's safe. Take Scarlet Witch with you. I don't know the extent of their orders, so I'm taking absolutely no chances."

Steve nodded slowly. It had been seventy years, but this wasn't the first time he had encountered a Hydra spy. That man had killed Dr. Erskine, and killed himself before he could be dealt with. This one wasn't going to get away with this. People died because of the attack in Washington, and whoever this spy was was at least partially responsible.

"Sir, I'll –"

"Save it, Rogers. Just follow my orders this time and stay out of this. Let SHIELD handle this."

His shoulders slumped, but he agreed that it was likely for the best. He just hoped that Jessica didn't have anything to do with it. It looked like she hadn't spoken with Viper, he assumed that the lady in green was Viper, but that could have all been an act to keep appearances up. He had worked with her undercover before; she was a convincing actress.

"…understood, sir."

"I know it's hard. Believe me, I know. The Masters have got us backed into a corner with no escape in sight." He sighed and jabbed his fists into his hips. "I figured this would happen one day. They've taken out all of our power players; all but one, anyway. Maximoffs, Stark, Banner. Even if we fight back, it won't do much good without them. Pietro alone can take all but Thor out before anyone knows he was there."

"Then we'll have to play it smart," Steve replied simply before turning on his heels and leaving for the hangar.

* * *

It was well after midnight, and Clint was desperately trying to fall asleep. Nightmares from his time as Loki's slave had been keeping him on the edge sleep for the past hour. It was nothing new, but he figured that he needed to get some sleep so he could be actually useful if shit went down tomorrow.

He sighed and stepped out of the staircase and into the common room. Usually, Natasha would slip in bed with him if Jarvis noted that he was having difficulty sleeping, but she decided to slip out an hour ago and hadn't returned yet. His only option was to walk off the excess energy. He could have went to Jessica and asked her to… help him, but he figured she'd sooner punch him than give an assist.

"Quiet," he commented to himself. Without Tony around and Jarvis offline, Stark Tower was as quiet as a ghost town. It was eerie to walk past the lab and see Tony and Bruce scurrying from computer to computer and from station to station as they conducted a million projects at once. At least Tony isn't playing his music.

Light from the open refrigerator flooded into the pitch black kitchen as Clint grabbed a cold soda. Yes, caffeine was exactly what he, someone failing to fall asleep, need. His genius is next level.

He walked over to the sliding doors leading to the large balcony housing Tony's spinning suit changing thing and stepped outside. The warm June night air washed over him. It was comfortable, not to muggy or humid. He would sleep out there if it wasn't so noisy. He found Jessica standing near the edge, staring intently at the quiet city. "Can't sleep either, Jess?"

She didn't answer. He frowned and padded toward her. She was breathing raggedly, he noticed, and sounded like she was muttering something to herself.

"…off one head, and another takes its place. Cut off one head, and another takes its place. Cut off one head, and another takes its place. Cut off one…"

He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Jess?"

She snarled and grabbed Clint by the throat, lifting him clear off his feet and would have done something horrible had she not recognized him in time. "Clint?"

He didn't bother hiding the fact that he was shaken. "Uh, hi."

She put him down and rubbed her face. "Sorry. So sorry. I, uh…"

"Don't worry about it. Not the first time I've been threatened with bodily harm by mistake. Wanna talk about it?" He could read her face like a book. She was struggling with something, but was keeping whatever it was close to the chest. Whatever it was, she was hiding something, and he didn't like it. Not now; not when there was so much at stake and they couldn't afford any secret between them.

She glanced at him, the white streaks of dried tears still evident in the pale moonlight. For a moment,Clint felt something twinge in his chest. She was kind of pretty in the moonlight, with the way it reflected off of her jet black hair. "Jess?"

"Whatever they say or think, I'm _no_ traitor. I'm _not_ like them."

With that, she walked away.

_The hell's that supposed to mean?_ Clint breathed out a sigh and started to sip his drink. He took a glance toward the city and felt his eyes being drawn to something that was carved into the balcony. "Fuck," he breathed quietly. Right where Jessica had been standing was a rudimentary sketch of the Hydra insignia, carved directly into the balcony.

_No, it can't be her,_ he thought to himself. He hurriedly ran up the bajillion stairs leading to the floor Steve's penthouse was on. Jessica couldn't have been the double agent Fury was talking about. It was impossible. They had worked together sometimes over the last five years, he could read her. He would know if she was hiding something, like he did just then.

He was struggling for breath by the time he started banging on Steve's door. Thankfully, he and Jessica weren't on the same floor. "Steve! Steve! Open… open up!" He was about to knock again when the door suddenly swung open. A stern looking Captain America stood in the door path.

"Yes, Clint? What is it?" he said in measured tones.

Clint cleared his throat and wondered if this could have waited until morning. "We need to talk. About Jessica."

"If you want to have fondue with her, just ask. I'm sure Natasha won't mind." He started to close the door, but Clint stopped him.

"Steve wait! I think… I think Jess isn't being on the up and up with us." Steve literally yanked him inside and closed the door behind them.

"What have you heard," he said in a hushed tone.

"Nothing. It's what I saw and, well, heard; as in, her standing on the balcony, reciting what sounded like the old Hydra motto. You know, cut off one –"

"I know what it is," he snapped. Clint didn't react other than slightly furrowing his eyebrows. "Sorry."

"I also saw that she carved the Hydra insignia into the balcony."

Steve sighed heavily. "What are you trying to say?"

"Steve, I think she's the double agent." Instead to clenching his jaw in the tell tale sign that something irritated him, Clint saw him sigh and flash him a look reserved for a parent whose child just said something stupid.

"Go to bed, Clint."

"What? Steve, this is serious shit. I think we need to look into this. If she's –"

"Clint, I'm ordering you to go to bed and drop this." Steve didn't sound like he was messing around, nor did he sound like he was in the mood to repeat himself. So, of course, Clint pressed the issue.

His keen eyes caught very subtle signs that he was hiding something. Steve had been learning to hide those signs, but he couldn't hide them from him. "What do you know?"

"Clint, do you really think I'd tolerate a Hydra agent in my midst? Do you really?"

Again, Clint caught the fleet signs of deception. "I don't know. You seem to tolerate two murders, a selfish narcissist and a monster." The glare Steve leveled on him could have melted steel. He cut his losses and acquiesced. "Fine. I'll drop it. Good night."

He left as Steve returned the wish. He headed straight for his penthouse and reached his door right as Natasha texted him.

**Natasha:** Im back. U ok?

**Clint:** I guess. sum shit is goin down. Come up to my place, its not safe on ur floor.

**Natasha:** over dramatic much? Fine, ill b there in 5.

Clint waited exactly five minutes before opening his door to let Natasha inside. "What's up and so important that you made me walk an extra floor?"

"First, I need you to log into the SHIELD database. You're Level Ten, so I'll be able to get what I need without trouble." She raised an eyebrow. "Just do it. You owe me four favors and I'm calling one in now." She sighed and sat down in front of his laptop. She quickly typed the required credentials in and was logged in. "Thanks, pal."

"Whatever. What are you looking for anyway that you couldn't see on your Level?"

"Jessica's unredacted profile." He grabbed the laptop and walked over to the table in his kitchen. He felt Natasha's unblinking green eyes following him like a confused predator during a furry convention. "Yes?"

"What exactly do you need to know that you can't just ask her yourself? You do realize that this is a double violation, right? Effectively hacking into classified files, and misuse of SHIELD credentials."

Whether Clint heard a word of that or not was anyone's guess. Once he found what he was looking for, namely the complete profile for Agent Drew, he focused his sole attention on it. For the most part, it was standard SHIELD lingo; things every agent had at the beginning of their profile, and information he had no use for.

"Ah," he declared quietly. Almost two pages in, her backstory. The profile visible to agents with clearance Level One to Nine, him being the latter, was heavily redacted; to the point of just being a few words and black bars marking out whole paragraphs beyond the standard SHIELD information in the beginning.

He had always wondered why Fury did that; but then, his had heavily redacted all of the unsavory things he had done in the past. He assumed that Jessica was no different. But then, since he had seen her acting so strange after coming back from the Hydra base, even marking their Tower with Hydra's insignia and reciting their decree, he was more than curious.

Half way through, his eyes widened to the point that he swore that they were going to literally jump out. "No, it can't be…"

"What?" Natasha joined him at the table, looking over his shoulder to see for herself. She read down to where it detailed her time as a Hydra agent, how and when she assassinated several high ranking SHIELD officials, including a failed attempt on Nick Fury himself.

Clint eased back until his back hit the back of his chair. A slow, uneasy breath escaped him. There was a (former) Hydra agent sleeping in their home! On their team! Been accepted as a part of their freaking family! How had none of this been brought to light at all during the many close moments they as a team had shared?

Anger and feelings of betrayal welled up inside him. He knew it was wrong to judge, but he couldn't help it. Hydra was nothing but a den of monsters and killers with no remorse, guilt or conscience. And one was in their home.

He and Natasha shared a glance; their eyes told the other that each was thinking the same. "Why didn't Fury tell us anything? _US_, his best agents?!" Clint asked.

She grabbed his hand before he got too riled up. "Likely because he knew one of us, ie you, would overreact. Fury knows, so this is likely nothing."

"Nothing? How can you say that?! There is a fucking (former) Hydra agent sleeping downstairs! And Fury and Steve know it!" He snatched his hand away and got up to blow off some steam. Unbelievable. He knew Fury was secretive, but this was down right idiotic. Because of this oversight, they could very well have been housing a double agent this whole time!

"Why would Steve still allow a Hydra agent in the Tower if he even thought she wasn't trustworthy? Why would Fury let one on the team unless he knew for sure that she was able to be trusted?"

Clint fumed silently as her glare bared down on him.

_"Whatever they say or think, I'm no traitor. I'm not like them."_ Jessica's cryptic words burned themselves back into the fore of his memory. He cursed inwardly. She knew someone, likely him, would find out and would dive off the deep end. She said that to plead her innocence preemptively.

Or maybe she was lying to make him doubt or whoever doubt what they saw. A spy's best weapon, in some cases, was instilling doubt in their targets, not in them, but in themselves. He knew that more than almost anyone. _I don't know anything anymore._

"Clint?"

He snapped his head toward her, a thoughtful half smile on his lips. "I don't know," he said with a sigh. "I guess I'm finally tired."

A playful smile played across her lips. "Thought so; you're kind of cranky." He rolled his eyes and let her drag him to his bedroom. "Come on, baby, let mama tuck you in."

As annoying as that was, Clint liked it, strangely. It reminded them both that she was still human. "Shut up, Natasha." _I'm not letting this go, Drew. Not by a long shot._


	19. Calm Before the Storm

_Disclaimer: I don't own these characters_

_**Calm Before the Storm**_

_**Tony Stark's Super Secret Hideout – Two Days Later, 10:15 am.**_

Pepper Potts, CEO of Stark Industries and girlfriend of Tony Stark, sighed and watched her boyfriend sadly watch the news on the television. He was killing himself, so to speak, by watching the hateful, venomous stories that those vultures were making about him.

She knew that he was the type of person to take it all as the truth, and doing so would only tear down his fragile self esteem and make him sink into a deep, dark hole that was nearly impossible for anyone to pull him out of.

And it hurt watching him sink deeper and deeper into a sad depression because she knew he'd hide it from her and the world and put on his 'I'm Tony Stark and I don't care' mask, and the world would believe him and only intensify its witch hunt and crucifixion and there was nothing she could about it.

Today, like every few hours or so the last two days, she was softly and quietly crying in the bedroom. Not for herself, but for him, because she knew he wasn't going to shed a single tear over any of this. He was going to hole himself up in his lab, because of course he had a lab in his hideout, and work and work until he either worked himself to death or this all blew over. Everyone knew the latter wasn't going to happen and she would die before the former did.

She was trapped, he was trapped and neither of them seemed to have any ideas on how to escape. It was only a matter of time before President Ellis sent War Machine after them, and Rhodey would follow orders like a good little soldier, all the while hating himself more and more because he had to hunt his best friend down. All because of that Russian woman.

Pepper never used this word for anyone before, but she truly and honestly hated that Russian for what she did. She hated whoever was in this Masters of Evil thing for making everyone's life hell. She hated them for making Tony hate himself, and for making her realize that she had no idea how to help him. Because all the kisses and the hugs and the kind words in the universe weren't going to make this go away.

"Pepper, you alright?"

God bless Happy. The man only knew one thing, and that was concern for his friends. He lived and breathed loyalty and would do anything to make sure they were safe. But they weren't safe. None of them were; not until those monsters, the real ones, were locked up or dead.

Preferably dead.

"No, not really. Tony watched the news this morning. I've never seen him so crushed." Her voice hitched and she was immediately enveloped in the large man's protective embrace. "And I don't know what to do to make it all better."

Happy sighed and stroked her head softly. "Hang tight, Pep." Happy walked out of the room and headed for the back of the hideout. Tony's makeshift lab was silent. No music, no incoherent mutterings of the mad genius that they were all fond of. The complete silence from the loudest man in the world was deafening.

He also noted that Tony was just sitting at the table, not actually working on anything. It was the first time in a long time that he saw Tony Stark actually look defeated, so human.

"Tony, you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm just fine," he said with absolutely none of the electric life that he always spoke with. "Just, uh, just thinking of some upgrades to the stealth suit."

That sounded like the truth, but Tony usually didn't just sit still and think. Happy had actually found out years ago that it was impossible for Tony to sit still. "Well, while you're thinking, Pepper's in bad shape." He heard Tony's breath catch in his throat, though he didn't have much of a reaction otherwise.

"I… I should go make her feel better. Maybe I should… I don't know." He stood and Happy saw his face for the first time in a day. He looked, for lack of a better phrase, like shit. His hair was sticking up and out in random places, he had big, dark rings under his eyes and he generally didn't look at all like Tony Stark.

"Yeah, you should," he said slowly. He eyed him for a very long moment, a worried frown creasing his forehead. Tony kept his eyes down and walked past him.

He didn't need his, or anyone else's pity. He'd figure this out, like he always did. It was just… a little more than he was used to dealing with. One terrorist with a deadly serum that gave people superpowers threatening the President was one thing; a whole team of terrorists with members that made Killian look like a matchstick was another entirely.

Tony walked into their bedroom, hands shoved into his pocket and desperately trying to hide his face.

"Oh God, Tony!" Pepper assaulted him with a near bone crushing hug and soaked his shirt with tears that were more out of worry than sadness. Tony hated that she was crying, but there wasn't anything that he could say or do to make it better. Saying the generic 'It'll get better' was a damn lie and he knew that she knew that.

So, he just stood there, letting her squeeze him tightly and cry into his shirt. He reached up to gently stroke the back of her head. "…Pepper…"

"Tony, I'm so sorry," she sobbed out into his shirt. He was appalled to hear her apologizing for nothing. Literally, she did absolutely nothing wrong. He did nothing wrong (and it was rare that he could honestly say that). They were the victims of glorified identity theft and grand theft Iron Man. They, both of them, were being crucified for something he didn't do, not that anyone knew that but them.

It wasn't fair. And no, he wasn't being a spoiled brat with that; it actually wasn't fair that she got caught up in this. "Pepper, stop."

"Why?! I don't know how to fix this, Tony! There's nothing I can do to make this even a little better. Have you watched the news? They are literally calling for your execution to be shown on LIVE TELEVISION!"

That… really wasn't what he needed to hear. "It's not your fault. It isn't my fault. It's the Masters of Evil's fault. And theirs alone. Blaming ourselves isn't going to make our problems any easier to deal with." Tony stopped to plant a soft, but affectionate kiss on her quivering lips. He let the kiss linger longer than he probably should have (but he didn't care) before finally breaking it. "But you know what will?"

Pepper nestled her head into his chest. "No. What?"

"Sleeping with me." For the first time in days, he laughed. It didn't have any of the mirth of his normal laugh, but it managed half of the impishness.

"You really want to have sex, Tony," she half asked, half stated with full incredulousness.

He scoffed and feigned an appalled face. "You would suggest that we have sex at a time like this. I make a very innocent proposal and you just had go and twist it up. Ugh!" He let go of her and crawled onto the bed, pretending to be oblivious to her tired glare. "Are you coming, pervert? And I didn't mean it like that! God, get your out of the gutter, Pepper!" He laughed again and pulled her down on top of him. "Love you."

"Uh huh. Sleep sounds really good right now." She leaned up and kissed his lips briefly.

That was possibly the most half hearted attempt to make someone feel better in history. And he knew that she felt the same. But it worked, for both of them. Being emo sucked, but was disturbingly easy. So, as they disrobed and snuggled underneath the sheets, they silently agreed to leave their problems behind for a few hours. They were going to be there when they woke up anyway. Waiting to harass them like an unwanted, unloved redheaded stepchild.

* * *

**Stark Tower – 3:00 pm**

Steve strode down the hall, having just finished lunch, of one of the penthouse floors. He was originally on his way to sit with Wanda, as he had been for the last few days, but decided to check on Jessica. He hadn't seen her in two days, and based on Clint's suspicions, he knew exactly why.

It was no secret, to him or Carol anyway, that Jessica was still shaken up by seeing Viper again. Steve didn't know what she did to her, but whatever it was, it still affected her to this day. Which didn't surprise him. A lot of them were still reeling from past trauma, which was why he was so upset that Clint wasn't thinking clearly and jumping to conclusions like this.

One would think that he of all people would understand being under the control of another.

Steve knocked firmly on the door and waiting patiently. He wasn't sure what kind of mood she would be in, so he planned to keep it short. The door opened and a tired face framed by frizzy black hair poked out of the crack.

"Steve? Whatizit?"

She looked and sounded tired. Actually, more like exhausted, as if she hadn't slept in days. "I, uh, just wanted to check up on you. But if you're sleeping, I'll come back later," he hurriedly added.

She mumbled so incoherent answer and went back inside, but left the door open. He took that as an invitation and slipped inside. Her penthouse was a mess; more so than usual. Clothes and dishes lay strewn haphazardly across the floor and furniture. There was a smell emanating from somewhere; not offensive, but definitely not pleasant, either. It just looked depressing inside Spider-Woman's home.

Steve sighed and found and clear space on the sofa to sit, in between a half eaten bowl of dried Chinese food and a pizza crust. "So, how have you been," he inquired lamely. She curled up into an arm chair some distance away from him.

"Fine." An obvious lie, even if he hadn't ever heard one before it.

"Are you sure? I hadn't seen you in the last few days, and… well… I'm worried."

"About Hydra scum?" she replied bitterly. Steve recoiled and frowned. "They think that I can't hear them talking about me. Can't see the glares and distrusting looks they give me when I walk past. They're worse than bloody teenagers."

"Who?" Steve was genuinely confused and upset. If he hadn't have been with Wanda so much, he would've noticed and put a stop to this.

"SHIELD's golden girl and her lap dog."

He sighed. Clint and Natasha. It was pretty telling that he knew that right away. "You didn't tell them, so how would they know what Clint suspected was anything more than speculation? They aren't that quick to jump to conclusions."

"One of them, more than likely Clint, must have read my classified file. Which means either Natasha or Fury let him see it. Fury is keen on keeping secrets, so…"

She sounded angry, but he didn't miss the traces of hurt feelings that barely laced her words. _Damn it, Clint!_ He sighed and caught her gaze. "I'll take care of it. Why don't you get dressed and meet me for lunch?" He had already eaten, but it was more for her to get out of her penthouse than anything else.

"Not hungry."

"Okay," he drawled. "How about we sit with Wanda together?" She nodded, which made him smile. "Alright, I'll see you in a few." With that, he flashed another smile before leaving. It faded like lightning as soon as he left. _I swear I'm going to ring your freaking neck, Clint._

He marched up the stairs and entered the floor where Wanda's room was. He just caught Clint walking inside her penthouse. "Clint!" he barked.

He heard a curse and scampering before he entered the apartment himself. "Jesus, Steve. Startled me there," Clint had the gall to say.

"Where do you get off looking at Jessica's classified files?"

Clint actually looked surprised. Whether because he was getting ready to lie about it, or was genuinely surprised that Steve knew wasn't clear. "I… Come on, Steve! She's a –"

"I already know what she _was_. And it doesn't matter. She's proven herself able to be trusted over these last few months at least. And you and Natasha are hardly anyone to be judgmental."

To that, Clint scowled at the much larger man. He turned and stormed into Wanda's bedroom. "Oh yeah? You don't think I know that? That's why I haven't called her out about it yet," he yelled over his shoulder. "But I think my suspicions are valid and I don't appreciate you casting them aside like I'm fucking twelve!"

Steve followed him and shut the door behind him. "I'm not, because they shouldn't exist. You could have just gone to her and asked her what was up."

"I did ask her if she wanted to talk, she just said something cryptic and left. What was I supposed to do, grab her and make her talk to me? Seriously, Steve, I understand you care about her, but that's no reason to just blindly believe every word she says as gospel."

"I believe her because she told me what those monsters did to her, in few details. I got the gist. You didn't see and hear how she reacted to seeing Viper again, I did. She's scared to death of her, Clint. You really think she'd actually work for someone she's afraid of; to bring down an organization and a team that took her in and made her feel both wanted and like she was a part of an actual family?"

Steve stared the smaller man down and watched the anger deflate from his shoulders, leaving only a confused and ashamed man. They both sat in a chair and sat in silence. Fifteen minutes passed before Jessica walked in. Clint didn't look or say anything, but Steve noticed that the tension in the room nearly tripled. He silently cursed and turned his attention to the sleeping woman.

Her soft snores turned into strangled whimpers. "She's just having a nightmare," he announced, more to himself than the others. Not caring that they could see, he gently grabbed her hand with his own and rubbed the back of it gently. _Wake up soon, Wanda._

* * *

_"Now, dear sister. What would Agatha say if she saw her best student on the ground, dying?" The amusement with which he said those words made her stomach turn._

_A long, deep cut was carved up her inner thigh before she knew what was happening. A long cry slithered out from between gritted teeth. With the femoral artery severed, blood poured out like a running faucet, pooling underneath her. _

_The thought, at first a whisper, now a full on scream, rushed back into the forefront of her mind. _It is you, isn't it?_ "Why, Pietro? What have I done?" she pleaded, only to gasp when he lifted her up by the throat. The signature; she can feel the faint traces of the same magic that she felt before oozing off of him. Her hand trembled, not just from the blood loss, but from her worst fear being confirmed. "What has happened to you?" she mumbled helplessly._

_"I have been made free." The cold, spiteful look that was so lacking in remorse he flashed across his face hit her like a punch to the gut._

_The red light surrounding her hands was snuffed out like the fires of her will to fight. All of the fight vanished from her body as their eyes met, green on green, hers searching for something, anything to tell her that there was something left. Nothing. Nothing but the cold, empty shell of the man whom she held so close to her heart; a man who had had his mind carved out like a jack o'lantern and replace with the will of some sorceress. Pietro was gone, and her heart was broken._

_One more glass shard appeared in his hand. With an sneer so evil that she couldn't bear to look, he reared back, intending to jam it into her neck. "Goodbye, Wanda."_

A pathetic moan escaped Wanda as her eyes fluttered open. Her heart was racing, but she didn't have the strength to jolt up like most people would. Bright light flooded into her eyes, resulting in the painful transition from sleep to awareness. "…God…"

She heard three people shuffling to their feet and whispering amongst themselves. Her eyes opened a fraction more and she saw a man standing over her. The three people were likely Avengers and the man just had to have been Pietro, returned to normal and at her side to greet her back to consciousness.

"Piet–" It was only Steve. Her heart sank and she; wanted to just go back to sleep, but his giant hand engulfed hers and her eyes shot all the way open. Big mistake, since they weren't fully adjusted to the freaking floodlights they installed in the room for some reason. "Ow. Someone turn off that stupid floodlight," she mumbled quietly.

"Sorry. Jess, close the blinds."

Once darkness reigned again, she sighed. "Better."

"Wanda," she heard Steve say, "how are you feeling?"

Well, that was a stupid question if she had ever heard one. Not feeling up to full on sarcasm just yet, she replied with, "Like shit," in her best 'that was a stupid question' voice at the moment. She heard Steve sigh softly, either out of embarrassment or disapproval of her use of profanity. Right then, she didn't care about either.

"Sorry. I was just– We! We were just worried about you!" he said before sinking his head in a flimsy attempt to hide his crimson cheeks.

She pretended not to notice that Freudian slip. "It's fine, Steve." She sighed and counted the people in the room. There were only three of them. Everyone else was probably in the common room waiting for Jarvis to announce that she was awake. Strange how Jarvis hadn't said anything to her yet. "Where is everyone?"

"I just…" Clint trailed off when the door opened. In filed Carol, Thor and Natasha into her spacious, but quickly becoming cramped bedroom. No Tony or Bruce, the latter she thought would have been the first. Still no Pietro either.

"Lady Wanda, it is most agreeable to see you wake again!" Thor cheered in his not at all inside voice. He gently patted her on the foot. It was right then that she noticed how numb they were. Must have been a side effect of being in bed for four days.

"Hey Wanda. I made you some clam chowder," Carol said. Ugh, she hated clam chowder, not that she or her empty stomach were in any position to protest. "It has a straw with it, so you can just suck it."

"Easy, flygirl. You're making Steve jealous." She pretended not to have heard that, as well.

"Shut up, Clint."

"Thanks, Carol," she said with a sigh. One sip and she decided that it was slightly less horrible than most others. After two cups of clam chowder, Wanda was feeling better. Better enough to sit up on her own in the bed, though Steve insisted on fluffing her pillow, which seemed to amuse Clint and Thor for some reason. While she ate, they explained what all she had missed while she was out for almost four days. "…the Enchantress, huh," she pondered thoughtfully.

"Aye. Where she is, our friend with be also."

She thought for a moment. If she was with the Masters of Evil, then she would likely be wherever they are. "Any idea where they are? What about Tony or Bruce?"

"The Hydra base is in Canada, so my bet is that they're there. Tony and Bruce, I have no idea. And it's probably better that way, since Zemo will likely look for them and would just follow us there if we went after them." Steve leaned against the dresser and stroked his square chin in thought.

"We know their location, I suggest we strike them now," Thor suggested. "Heretofore, we have had nothing but misfortune after misfortune. Now, the fair witch has awoken; let us continue this good fortune into battle. Who is to say what will transpire?"

"I agree. We need to do something against them, so why not start now?" Natasha agreed.

Steve thought it over for a brief moment, and then nodded. "Janet, Hank Pym and Scott Lang are at the base. Let's worry about breaking them out for right now."

"Someone hand me that globe on my dresser, please." Wanda didn't know where in Canada they were, but she did know that they certainly weren't going to stay in one place if Avengers had been there recently. She didn't know who this Zemo was, but she assumed that he wasn't stupid.

Natasha placed the globe in her lap. She nodded her thanks and closed her eyes. Red, lightning like streaks of mystical energy sparked from her fingers and wrapped around the globe. A red outline of the globe expanded outward. By focusing her magical energies this way, she was able to search the planet quickly for the Masters.

How it worked, she wasn't sure herself; but it did, so she wasn't going to ask questions.

Her eyes filled with red light for a brief moment before it subsided, and a small red dot appeared on the outline. "Munich, Germany."

"Munich ? Why are they there?"

"Don't know, but I feel that we will find out soon."

No sooner had she said that, Natasha's phone began ringing. "Romanoff." She listened to whoever it was for a few moments, and then turned the television on and flipped to the closest news station. The first image was a circle of fire the size of several dozen blocks in the middle of Munich, Germany, in the shape the Avengers logo. The sound wasn't on, so they couldn't hear the news report, but that didn't matter. They all new what this was.

"They're calling us out," Carol stated.

"It could be a trap," Jessica said warily.

Steve straightened out and sigh. "Whether it is or not, we need to respond. Innocent civilians could be in danger. Suit up and meet at tue Quinjet in fifteen while I talk to Fury."

She watched the others file out and sighed. They were planning on going without her, but there was no way she was letting them. She figured he'd have something to say about it, but Wanda through the covers off of her lower body and planted her feet on the plush carpet. She wiggled her toes and took a moment to get feeling in her legs. It felt strange to finally be out of bed after being asleep for so long. She sighed and wobbled to her feet.

"No, Wanda. You're still recovering."

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She knew he didn't mean to, but she could have done without the incessant mothering. "Yes, I'm well aware. I'm also aware that I'm perhaps the only one who can counter the Enchantress if she's there." She stared at him, as if daring him to refute. He didn't, but sighed and clenched his jaw.

"Be ready in fifteen." She smirked as he walked out, and headed for her shower. She pulled her robe and hospital gown off and ran her fingers across the scars. More than halfway healed physically, they still stung every time she stretched her midsection. Emotionally, those scars probably wouldn't heal for a long time; at least until Pietro was where he belonged.

* * *

A/N: Alright folks, next chapter, which drops on Tuesday, is the beginning of the end. Thanks for reading so far :)


	20. This is the Way the World Ends… (Part I)

_**A/N:**__ I said I'd update on Tuesday, but I can't wait any longer! :D_

_Disclaimer: I don't own these characters._

* * *

_**This is the Way the World Ends… Part I **_

**Tony Stark's Super Secret Hideout – 4:15 pm**

"Tony! Tony wake up!" Happy stormed into the bedroom and shook a sleeping Tony violently.

Tony jolted up and swung a pair of a poorly aimed punches at the air. "Whowahablea… Happy? Happy, what the fuck?! Can't you see I'm…" He trailed off at the sight of Happy's expression. "What?"

"The news. Munich." He turned on the television and flipped to the news.

_"…is estimated to span at least six blocks in total. The heat is so intense that firefighters can't even get close enough to put it out. What they've done so far isn't having any effect. The smell… there must be people in that fire… the distinct smell of burning flesh is so pungent and… Oh God, how could this have happened? When will the Avengers arrive to answer this obvious invitation for something?"_

Tony sat in bed, wide awake, and stared at the television. A quick glance at Pepper, who was also awake, told him that she was horrified. He didn't need to be told that she was okay with him leaving. He jumped off the bed and dashed out of the room toward the back door. His automated suit followed after him and attached itself it to him when he reached the door.

"Tony! Please come back safe," Pepper said. She wrapped her arms around his sleek armor and kissed his mouth slit.

"Promise. Have dinner ready for when I come back, yeah?"

She rolled her eyes, but didn't say no. "I love you,Tony."

"Love you too, Pep." He stepped outside and rocketed into the sky. "J, you with me?"

"Indeed I am sir. And may I say that it's good to be back and healthy."

"Good to hear it. How far to Munich?"

"Approximately 1500 miles. At maximum speed, it will be another hour before we arrive."

Tony cursed. The Avengers were likely already on their way and would beat him there. He was sure that they knew as well as he did that this was a trap. They hadn't heard a word from the Masters in two days, so they were due for another headache. Whatever they were planning, he and the Avengers were more than ready.

He hoped.

* * *

**4:25 pm**

"ETA, thirty minutes, guys," Carol announced from the cockpit.

Natasha was busy cleaning and loading a pair of uzi submachine guns, in case they ran into trouble. Steve was watching her with bated awe. He always enjoyed watching her handle any type of weapon. She was like a savant of mass destruction wrapped in a compact 5'3 frame.

It also served to distract him, temporarily, from what Fury told him once they left. The city was attacked at 2:30 ET, and the mysterious fire started only twenty minutes after that. The incursion was quick, violent, and efficient. There was a evacuation attempt already in place, so the city should have been mostly empty by the time they got there.

It had to be Hydra. They and Zemo were calling them out, and they were walking right into it. Not that they had much of a choice. That fire could have been threatening what civilians remained in the city, since it encompassed such a massive area.

"As soon as we arrive," he said, "Thor, you put out the fire, and then I'll organize whatever clean up is necessary. The rest of you, stay on alert just in case. We don't know who caused this, but I think we all have a really good feeling. With that in mind, Clint you stay on the Quinjet and man the guns, just in case, and also to keep an eye on the radar. I don't want us getting caught unawares."

Steve sighed and sat back in his seat.

"Think Tony'll show up?" Jessica asked.

Steve thought for a moment. He had seen repeatedly that Tony had a knack for being in the right place at the time. He was a hero, he would be there. Steve nodded, but didn't say anything else. His only hope was that Bruce would show up as well. Because they were going to need him, and his other guy.

* * *

**Munich, Germany – 11:55 pm (4:55 ET)**

Thick, black smoke billowed upward, choking off any line of sight news helicopters above could hope to have. The choir of pained, agonized screams had died down to a mere echo of whimpers.

"Ugh."

Karla, in her silver and gold costume that she didn't think she'd need to wear again, stood on the roof of a skyscraper that was a good half mile away from the 'Avengers signal', as Zemo had dubbed it. It was Abomination's idea to use civilians as the kindling to fuel the fire for as long as possible. Why they would listen to him of all people wad beyond her. The resulting smell was repugnant and stomach turning. "Zemo, this is repulsive."

"I agree. You couldn't come up with something better than this?" Gene, dressed in a sharp white suit and his ten rings of power, agreed.

Helmut shook his head. "I did not realize that you two had such sensitive stomachs. My reasons for doing this are twofold. One, we had to do something that would give the heroes a sense of the scale of our final battle. Two, we had to get rid of some of these pesky civilians so the Avengers can fight unhindered. Can either of you think of any ways to accomplish both of these in such a fantastical manner? If so, it doesn't matter now."

Both Karla and Gene sighed. The former continued to watch the flames burn despite herself. Firefighters futilely attempted to put the flames out, but couldn't due to the heat. They used over three thousand people to fuel it; she still couldn't believe it. While it was somewhat fun to instill terror in the minds of the people, this was… too much. She had already told him that she wasn't a bad person, and he agreed. But this was sadistic; and all for a message.

If this all didn't pan out, she'd be pretty –

"They'll be here within a minute," Viper announced.

"Good. Mandarin, Viper, tell your men to get ready," Zemo said.

The final member of the Masters of Evil stepped forward, and had all of the signs of a man who really didn't want to be there. Shaking legs, ragged breathing, fidgety fingers and perspiration running down his face and dripping onto the ground beneath. He had already vomited several times over the side of the building. Any more and he'd likely pass out. "M-M-Mr. Zemo, I-I don't have to do anything, r-right?" he stammered nearly incoherently.

Zemo turned to the shaking man and sighed. "Of course you do, Goliath. Why wouldn't you? You are a member of this team, after all."

"B-but… I've done what you've asked of me. I got Van Dyne for you, I took the serum. But I'm not a murderer. I refuse to take part in anyone's death! You hear me?!"

Had he not been wearing a mask, they would have seen the utterly amused look on his face. "You are… a little too late for declarations such as that. Three thousand people just died, and you are guilty just by association."

Goliath paused, shaken and terrified by the realization. "No, I …" He turned his back to the man and hung his head. He didn't want to believe him, but deep down, he knew he was right. _Damn him._ "That's it, then. I'm done following you sociopaths. As soon as the Avengers show up, I'm turning myself in. And you can't stop me."

Zemo just shrugged. "Whether I can or cannot is irrelevant, because I don't plan to. But, when you surrender, ensure that they send someone to collect your daughter's corpse."

Goliath froze. The very real possibility that his daughter, his only reason for living could and would die if he didn't do as told hit him in the face like a pissed off Mike Tyson. Just like it had the first time. "You can't," he stammered after whipping around to face him again.

"Mr. Lang, I have just orchestrated the very public cremation of three thousand people in the center of one of the most largest cities in the Europe. Please do not presume to make assumptions on what I am and am not capable and willing to do to a mere child." His expressionless mask bored directly into Goliath's, better known to the world as Scott Lang, eyes. "Or, I could merely kill you now and leave Cassandra in the loving hands of Madame Hydra. You don't want that, do you?"

One glance at the fangy grin Viper flashed sent chills up his spine. "No," he responded, fully defeated. "Just, don't hurt Cassie. Please."

"Her well being is fully in your hands, as it has always been. Now then." Zemo, and then the others turned their attention to very sudden, very violent thunderstorm that appeared literally out of nowhere. The pouring rains and heavy winds easily snuffed out the flames of their signal. "And soon, it begins. Enchantress, prepare the rest of our troops. Black Widow, greet our guests. At my signal."

Green light filled Amora's eyes and surrounded her hands as she began chanting some incantation, while Yelena peered into scope of her high powered sniper rifle and watched the familiar Quinjet land not to far from the then extinguished fire.

* * *

"Good work, Thor. Team, remember the plan. Clint and Wanda stay here on the jet until needed. Everyone else, with me." A quick, but razor sharp glare cut off any protest from the young sorceress and then Steve led the team off the jet and toward the nearest authorities.

Steve approached them, slightly amused that the last time he was here; well, next to last time; he was shooting Germans. Now, he was working hand in hand with them to figure this out. Time changes many things, he supposed. "Was ist passiert*?" he queried.

The highest ranking officer answered him. "Es war ein Angriff über zweieinhalb Stunden von Soldaten in dunkelgrün , die sich Hydra genannt . Sie wurden von einem Smaragd rothaarige Frau und ein Mann in einer Maske führte . Er sagte, dass dies die heralding einer neuen Weltordnung war." The man paused and turned to the then pile of still smoking ashes. Thankfully, Thor's wind blew both the smell and most of the ashes away. "Es gab Leute, in diesem Feuer, Captain. Unschuldige Menschen, die kein Geschäft hatte zu sterben. Bitte, finden und stoppen die Monster, die dies taten. Ich weiß, Deutschland hat eine schwarze Vergangenheit, sondern -"

Steve cut him off with a raised hand. That was one place he was not going; not today and not in this place. "Wir planen, keine Sorge . Wie viele müssen evakuiert werden?"

"Nicht viele. Wir sind fast alles geta–" The man's head suddenly exploded into a mist of blood and gray matter. The other two drew their guns, only for the same to happen to them.

"Sniper!" Natasha roared. The four Avengers immediately dove for the nearest cover.

"Hawkeye, aerial coverage, now! Find the sniper and take them out!"

The Quinjet rose into the air as Clint's keen vision scanned along the trajectory the bullets traveled in. It didn't take him long to see Amora levitating high in the air. _=Found Enchantress,=_ he spoke into the comm. He trailed down and saw several people standing on a rooftop nearly half a mile away. _=And her friends. Looks like they're all here.=_

His peripheral vision caught what she was doing too late. There was a loud booming rumble, and massive purple portal stretched across the sky, black energy streaking and crackling across its expanse like lightning. _=Shit. Cap, you seeing this?=_

Steve looked up and cursed loudly. It reminded him way too much of New York. "Thor, what is that?"

"An inter-dimensional portal to one of the nine realms. From the color, it seems to be Svartalfheim."

"Blush you," Jessica said, well meaning, of course.

"'Tis the home of the Dark Elves. Creatures both terrible and strong reside there."

"We need to figure out how to close it. Clint, do you have a shot?"

"That won't be necessary, Cap." Steve looked in the direction of the new voice and felt his breath catch. Quicksilver was casually leaning against light pole, a not at all subtle smirk playing across his lips. "Miss me, guys?"

"Pietro? You're still trapped, aren't you?" Natasha stared him down, not taking her hands off her guns, for all the good they would do against him.

"Free, yes," he corrected. He then looked up and admired the portal. "Beautiful, isn't it? Not nearly as Amora, but you get the idea. Don't know what's coming, but I'm glad I'm not you guys."

"Snap out of it, son," Steve snapped. "You know as well as I do that this isn't right."

"Save your breath, Captain. 'Tis nigh impossible to break the Enchantress' spell on words alone. He is forgone until we can get a proper handle on him."

"Listen to Fabio, old timer. Besides, Amora is great. She treats me like I'm not a joke, she makes me feel like a man, unlike Wanda or any of you people. Everything she tells me is truth; she doesn't lie to me all the time like Wanda did."

"A man. Does that feeling remain whilst you are kissing her feet?" Thor charged. "And you know Scarlet Witch has never told you a lie You are being blinded by the Enchantress. Surrender, both you and your allies, and we shall stay our wrath from 'pon you."

Pietro chuckled and gave Thor an amused grin. "She's a goddess who deserves it! And surrender? Ha! There won't be any surrendering happening here today. From anyone."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Figure it out, Spider-Woman. You all won't live to see tomorrow. I promise you that. But for now, enjoy the going away party." He vanished in a cloud of dust before any of them could respond. Just then, creatures began pouring out of the portal. Not even a moment later, almost a hundred of them filled the sky, all headed for the Avengers.

"I shall intercept them." Thor twirled his hammer and launched himself into the air, with the Quinjet close behind.

It took a while, but the whole reason for Carol being brought in was realized. Her expert flying gave Clint and his near perfect aim a steady shot each and every time. It was amazing to be on the ground to watch her bend the vehicle to her will as she evaded the terrible creatures that were exiting the portal. The jet's machine blazed in a thundering frenzy of death, pelting the creatures with high caliber bullets which tore into them with burning fury. Thor, with a massive lightning storm raging at his command, bottlenecked the portal, electrifying the creatures as soon as they passed through.

The portal closed and was quickly replaced by another portal that appeared street side. Frost giants, fire demons, trolls and other gruesome Asgardian creatures marched out of the portal and down the street. On the opposite side, dozens of Hydra soldiers moved down the street in formation, all wielding heavy machine guns. On the adjacent street, Hydra agents infused with the Pym Particle serum, minus Scott, marched forward. On the opposite side, several dozen men and women infused with the Extremis serum headed their way.

And in the middle of it all, the Avengers.

They had had heavy odds before, but this was beyond anything they had handled before. _=…holy shit,=_ Clint exclaimed.

"We're right sodded up the arse, I'd say."

"This isn't impossible, guys," Wanda assured as she floated safely to the ground next to them. "We've had tough odds before, and we've won. Why is now any different?"

Steve smiled internally at her comment and refusal to give up with giving up. They were the Avengers. They were going to come out on top or go out swinging. "Clint, finish up monsters and then take out the Hydra agents to our six; Thor, the Asgardian creatures on the ground; Wanda, Extremis soldiers; Jessica and Natasha, you and I are taking on Hydra on our three. Move out!"

_=Rogers, Fury here. We're watching what's happening as we speak. It happens that it's going down within a mile of the German SHIELD outpost. You'll have two helicopters carrying a few dozen agents arriving as backup with ten minutes.=_

That was likely the best news Steve had heard all day. "Roger that, sir. We'll be sure to leave the boys something to play with."

_=Roger that. Fury out.=_

Steve stopped for a brief moment to analyze the situation. His orders were being followed, but no sign of Tony or Bruce. He figured they'd have to show up eventually. This had all of the makings of another life changing event, just like New York.

* * *

_**A/N:**__ There's part one of five of the finale. Enjoy, and please don't forget to review :)_

_**TRANSLATION:**_

_1. __What happened?_

_2. __There was an attack about two and a half hours ago by soldiers in dark green that called themselves Hydra. They were led by a emerald haired woman and a man in a mask. He said that this was the heralding of a new world order._

_3. There were people in that fire, Captain. Innocent people who had no business dying. Please, find and stop the monsters who did this. I know Germany has a black past but –_

_4. We plan to, don't worry. How many more need to be evacuated?_

_5. Not many. We are almost do–_


	21. This is the Way the World Ends…(Part II)

_Disclaimer: I don't own these characters or Black Sabbath_

_**This is the Way the World Ends… (Part II)**_

**Steve, Natasha & Jessica**

Bullets ripped through the car Natasha was crouched behind, forcing the former Russian spy to bail and return fire. Her submachine guns weren't that powerful and couldn't penetrate their thick body armor. Didn't matter; all she was trying to do was get them off Steve's back.

He flipped over a Hydra goon and slammed them into the ground while hurling his shield into the chest of another.

"Up!" Jessica yelled. He and Natasha flipped the nearest agents into the air, where she fried them with a pair of venom blasts.

Vibranium met skull and vibranium won. The hapless Hydra soldier slumped to the ground after a solid shield strike from Steve. He grabbed the man's gun and dove for cover behind a BMW. There were close to seventy soldiers all unleashing a hail of bullets at the three Avengers. It wasn't anything they hadn't dealt with. In fact, Steve was possibly the most used to being shot at by dozens of Hydra goons.

It didn't make it any easier to deal with, mind.

He chucked his shield at the nearest soldier and then opened fire with the heavy assault rifle. It was powerful and reminded him of mowing down Nazis on these very streets. Their body armor was tough, so he had to aim for their exposed jaws and goggles. For the most part, it worked, and they went down after a few shots.

Jessica was having even better luck. Her venom blasts could punch through steel when at full power, so the body armor might as well have been tin foil for all the protection it provided them. She dove behind a car for cover. "Bloody hell," she muttered. Her crimson red costume grew damp as blood spilled out of an open wound caused by her getting grazed by a errant shot.

"You good to keep going," Natasha asked coolly. They hadn't spoken in nearly four days, which had little to do with Clint's accusations and wasn't even that uncommon. They weren't the closest; in fact, they rarely spoke outside of missions and group outings, so there was little surprise when Jessica didn't respond right away.

"I'm fine," she replied curtly. It was only half true, but close enough, given the circumstances. She cut off any further reply when Steve slid in beside them and fired off a return volley. His rifle barked right beside her ear. "Ow."

"Huh? Oh, sorry. Spread out and aim for the face. Their jaws are exposed and they don't have shields."

Natasha took out three more and didn't bother to give a reply to Jessica's reply. It hardly seemed like the right place or time for snide, backhanded comments that the two seemed to enjoy exchanging. Why they did, she claimed not to know. The team learned to just take her word for it.

"That's twenty-six for me," Jessica chirped. Natasha narrowed her eyes and snatched up an abandon rifle and immediately took out seven.

"Twenty-seven."

Steve overheard them and suppressed an eye roll. As long as they were killing the bad guys and not each other. Besides, he had almost thirty by himself.

"Delta and Omega squads, move in!"

Steve whipped his head toward the voice and cursed as another several dozen soldiers poured in from seemingly no where. Bullets wasted no time in whizzing by their heads.

"Circle around! Take their cover away!"

* * *

**Thor**

Dark eleves. Ogres. Trolls. Bilgesnipe. Strange wereapes.

Thor had much experience with these creatures. Either through one of the many invasions Malekith instigated in a bid for Asgard's throne, or just out of boredom, Thor had often done battle with each of them in droves during his youth.

He almost took a moment to wonder how long it took for the Asgardian Amora to rally these forces. The Svartálfan were known for being distrustful of outsiders, especially from the Shining City.

It didn't matter. He was certain they were under her spell. A shame they were threatening the welfare of his friends; he may have fought for them otherwise. As it stood now, they were merely obstacles needed to be broken.

Winds picked up quickly, sweeping across the street and lifting them skyward; and his hammer broke them. Uru, the unbreakable metal found mostly in Nidavellir, smashed through bones and sent elf and ogre alike flying through cars and smashing into the concrete.

Thor barked out a laugh and spun his hammer over his head. Golden lightning sparked from the hammer's head and tore through the Svartálfan that remained standing against the wind. He smirked a swept their broken, smoldering bodies up in the freezing winds of the North and sent their frozen pieces flying toward the oncoming Extremis mooks.

He watched them scatter like roaches, only to grunt and suddenly fly into the side of a building. A pair of giants, both magically enhanced by Amora, lumbered quickly out of the portal. Both of them were armed with flaming swords or a battle axe. "Come! Face us, son of Odin!" one of them roared.

Thor groaned and exploded out of the building. Lightning crashed violently around his hammer and shot toward on the giants. He laughed and took it full flush, to no effect. "What madness is –" Thor had to cut himself off to dodge out of the way of a fire bolt. The ground floor of the building he was in exploded and crumbled to the ground.

Dust and debris filled the area, blinding and choking everyone.

"Face us, coward!"

Thor, not as affected by the dust as the others, used it as cover to get in close to one of the giants and batted him into the nearest building. The other was swept up in a dust filled tornado, removing him and the debris from the immediate battle. "How many more monsters do you have for me, Amora?!" he bellowed.

A beam of green and white energy bolted from the building and hit Thor directly in the chest. Another came from above and hit him in the head. He crumpled to the ground, pained grunts trickling out from his gritted teeth.

"Burn him to ashes, brother!"

Whatever magic Amora imbued these giants with was, it was making them much more powerful than they normally were. Not even including being unaffected by his lightning, but they were stronger than they normally were. He remembered being able kill several giants with blows that were far below his optimal strength. The blow that send giant reeling into the building was of the same level, but was a vastly different result.

He cursed and twirled his hammer in front of him. The beams were from their paths and absorbed into the hammer. Despite the pain the attacks left him in, he stood and marched toward them.

"No! Stop him!"

"Fools! Learn to never underestimate the God of Thunder!" Along with the beams, which they futilely increased the intensity of, Mjolnir also began to drain Amora's magic from their bodies.

"No!"

"Fools! Perish from before me!" He sent a pair of blue energy bolts, which easily vaporized the pair of giants.

Thor exhaled deeply and spared a weary glance toward the portal. It was still open, and while none were pouring through at the moment, he wasn't about to allow them the chance. He spun his hammer again, which unlocked all of the hammer's esoteric ability, and zapped the portal with a white beam. It drained the magics within it, shrinking it down into nothing.

"There. Now no more shall pester us."

A scream of frustration. A faint call for assistance.

His head whipped around and saw Wanda surrounded by flames from the Extremis soldiers. He dashed to her aid, hammer glowing.

* * *

**Wanda**

The heat from the flames was so intense that Wanda could feel it through her scarlet shield. She was surrounded at all sides, forced to exert all of her concentration on maintaining the bubble that was protecting her from the fire from nearly twenty different points.

"Move in, she's about to crack!"

They moved in closer, the heat from their flames exerting even more pressure on her bubble. There was a fire hydrant, and likely a water main, nearby, but she was too afraid to devote even a little attention toward either on.

One man halted his flames and charged forward, and struck the bubble. The reverberation from the blow recoiled back into her. A jolt of sharp pain shot through her head, breaking her concentration for a brief moment.

He struck again, and the bubble cracked, allowing some of the fire to seep through.

It was hotter than normal fire, was her first thought. The flames licked against her protected arm. She muttered a quick blessing for Tony for making her suit fireproof on a whim. The flighty desire of the mad billionaire to ensure that his team was as safe as possible just saved her life.

More flames seeped through, forcing her to cower a little to protect her face. She was in a tough spot. She had been before, but not quite this thoroughly. She crouched down keep the bubble from collapsing on her completely. "Some assistance would be appreciated," she yelled out, though with the flames roaring around her, it was drowned out.

"Enough!" Thunder clapped as heavy rain poured over the area. Hot steam filled the block, providing her with a little cover. A red light flashed across the ground, followed by a low rumble. Water from the underground water main erupted through the pavement and fire hydrant like a geyser. More steam filled block as their flames were snuffed out completely.

"My turn," she uttered dangerously. She waved her hands briefly and fired a stream of black fire shot from her hands and engulfed five of the distracted Extremis soldiers. They screamed out, and disappeared into the mist.

"Fair witch! I've come to aid you," Thor announced.

"Stay back!" she said, stopping him before he could land beside her. The steam turned red with hex magic. "It's about to get messy around here."

Even as she said that, two tried to fire a pair of fireballs while she was distracted. Without their knowing how, they detonated before they even left their hands. The explosion sent them, plus the ten or so around them flying back.

Not missing a beat, she sent a hex bolt toward another group of soldiers. Two dove out of the way, but the three that weren't able to in time were hit either flush or with enough residual energy for it not to matter. All three froze and stiffened up, morphing and twisting until they became three medium sized trees.

That was eight down.

Two more lunged for her, but were caught up and crushed by her telekinesis.

She was doing better than before, but still wasn't out of the woods yet. The only good part about this was the adrenaline pumping through her helped her ignore the shooting pain in her abdomen. The stitches were coming out after being pulled on from her constant motion. If Steve found out, he'd have a fit; Bruce would pull his hair out and subtly threaten to hulk out if she didn't leave the battle.

Fat chance.

She had these goons on the ropes, with their advantage cut in half and her hex cloud causing whatever they did to fail.

For instance, six of the twelve that were knocked back by the explosion stood tall and advanced on her. They ignited their hands with fire, and all shared the same menacing glares. She knew she stood no chance against them, since they were faster and stronger than she. Still, she smirked and waited for the hex.

It came in the form of five exploding spontaneously from their flames detonating within them and the other just being snuffed out. It was easy from that point to crush them with telekinesis just like the others. The remaining six stood and watched her warily. She gave them an amused grin and waved her hand casually in their general direction. They screamed and changed into random farm animals in the tine it took for Thor, who was watching from above, to realize what was happening.

She huffed and fell to a knee. Her arm was singed slightly, but was fine, thanks to the then melted sleeve of her suit. "Thank you, Tony Stark."

"Indeed. That was a glorious display of power, my lady. Are you well?" Thor landed beside her and helped her up.

"I will be as soon as I can lie down. Nice warmup, though."

* * *

**Clint & Carol**

By far, the others on the ground were having a much easier time with their warmups than Clint and Carol were. Mostly because Clint had only so much time to shoot before the much faster flying creatures dove and dodged out of his crosshairs. It was only made worse by Carol having to constantly take evasive maneuvers once one got on her tail.

"Frustrating little dicks," she muttered while barrel rolling out of the way. At the same time, Clint scored a pair of headshots one two passing bird like creatures. "I forget, this thing got missiles?"

"Yeah. Tony was pretty adamant about that when we fought a flock of dino-geese," he said; his expression was the picture of seriousness. He pressed a button and steadied his hands. "We also have rear facing matching guns. Lead 'em on a wild ride." Clint activated the cameras mounted on the back of the jet and made sure his seatbelt was fastened as tightly as possible. From Carol's wild grin and the sudden jostling of the jet, he was going to need as much protection as possible.

Their unsaid plan worked. The monsters followed after the Quinjet, grouping up in a nice crowd for Clint to mow down. Once high enough, he fired a pair of missiles into the middle of the group. Some managed to scatter in time, but the majority were caught directly or around the explosion. The rest were mopped up by his expert aim.

"Nice shooting, Tex," she commented. "I'm the only one who thinks this is a little too easy?"

"Nah, but you're not supposed to say it. Now we'll probably die or something." There was an uncomfortable silence that settled into the cockpit. "Perfect." He caught sight of a pair of helicopters that landed in the same intersection the others were in thirty minutes earlier. A dozen SHIELD agents armed with heavy machine guns piled out and began to engage whatever enemy forces that hadn't been mopped up. This included a formation of Hydra agents, ten deep, all of which were close to fifty feet tall. "You seeing this?"

"Yeah, still working on believing. Pym?"

"Yeah, it must have worked. Let's gun em' down."

Carol moved the jet into firing position of one, but had to strafe out of the way of a car. "Jeezus!" Cars, big rigs, chunks of building, pavement and large pipes were all used as deterrents and prevented Clint from getting a clear shot.

Thor was busy fighting the second and third waves of creatures from out of the portal, Wanda was handling more Extremis mooks, and Steve, Natasha and Jessica had their hands full with foot soldiers.

One of the giant men glared at the jet and rose his hands. And ominous yellow light glowed around them. "Men, open fire!" Yellow beams of energy shot from their hands and barreled toward the jet. Carol cursed and took drastic evasive maneuvers to avoid being hit.

"See? This is why you don't say things are easy!"

The Yellowjackets were spread out, some even managing to have climbed up to rooftops, making avoiding their blasts especially difficult. Carol cursed and tightened her grip on the steering. "Clint, shoot!"

"I don't have a clear shot," he snapped back. He cursed through gritted teeth and strained his hawk-like eyes as much as possible. Yellow beams of light criss-crossed across the windshield every time he managed to line a shot up. It was as if they knew when they had a lock.

The ship suddenly jostled and shook, with the distinct smell of smoldering metal filtered into the cabin. "Fuck, we're hit!"

"Gotta take her down! God damn it!"

_=You can relax, Starbuck. I'm here now.=_

Before she could respond to the all to familiar voice, the most narcissistic, egotistical song Tony Stark could have chosen began blaring through the speakers, more than loud enough for everyone in the battle to hear.

_I AM IRON MAN!_

_Heavy boots of lead_

_Fills his victims full of dread_

_Running as fast as they can_

_Iron Man lives again! _

Carol managed to roll her eyes while bringing the jet down safely. The sleek blue and black armor of the genius billionaire playboy philanthropist roared past them and engaged the Yellowjackets.

* * *

_Tony_

Iron Man was back!

It felt so good to be back in the armor and back in his element. Days of wallowing in his own self-pity just wasn't his style. Kicking ass in sleek and stylish armor that was lightyears better than anything the bad guys could come up with totally was.

With his small, speedy size and Jarvis, he was able to avoid the blasts while lining up and taking shots himself. The giants were too big to dodge his blasts. He hit two in the chin and a third in the chest all at nearly full power. There was no time to try and spar the bad guys, who'd likely get up and stab them from behind. If they died, they died. If they survived, awesome.

Three down, seven to go.

Tony soared above and noticed Clint and Carol sprinting out of the jet, both armed. Good. He circled back around and engaged the remaining giants. They fired, he circled and avoided them with style and returned fire. Two more went down, and slammed down into the pavement below.

"That takes care of the roof jockeys. Spangles?"

_=Tony? Thank God you're here. This was a trap.=_

"Really? Ya think so, Ackbar? Would've never guessed with the way our logo was in the middle of the city and there are suddenly enemy forces here in droves attacking us."

_=I get it, Tony. Hurry up and finish those giants off. Shoot to kill.=_

"Um, ok." He figured Steve to be the type to always try and spare any of the bad guys. In fact, it was a point at several of their team meeting on why doing so was a bad idea. Steve was the only one to remain firm. Hearing him order to shoot to kill was jarring.

Not that Tony really wanted to argue. He was on the fence, but he saw the importance.

_"Targets locked, sir,"_ Jarvis announced. He went ahead and fired five miniature missiles, which each struck their targets. The explosions were small, but devastating.

_=They're just Hydra scum, Tony.=_

That surprised Tony just as much as the order to kill did. That sounded nothing like the Spangly Capsicle that he knew and tolerated. "Uh, well, I'm done."

_=We just finished too. Regroup at the Quinjet.=_

Tony was third to arrive, since Carol and Clint were already there.

The streets were riddled with dead bodies. The collective blood of the first salvo by the Masters of Evil flowed toward the gutters and pooled down to the sewers. Tony sighed and kicked the arm of a dead Hydra agent out of his in of sight. "What a massacre."

"The less of these bastards there are, the better," Jessica spat bitterly. Tony raised an eyebrow behind his facemask. He supposed that he was the only one who wanted to keep one of them alive. That was the plan, after all.

"It is most acceptable to see you once again, Tony," Thor greeted. He was covered in blood, scratches and his armor was nicked and dinged, but he appeared to be no worse for wear.

"Agreed. We'll need you," Steve said. He turned his attention to the North while Natasha spoke with the SHIELD agents. From where he was, with his sharp eyes, he could see Zemo's distinct costume in the distance. His eyes narrowed and he gripped his shield strap.

"The battle is not yet over. Our most difficult fight yet looms in the near future."

"You didn't see Bruce incoming, did you Tony?"

He knew where Clint was going and wished that he had something better to announce. "Nope, sorry. He still hadn't shown up yet?" He figured Bruce would have at least gotten on touch with them.

Clint shook his head.

"Cleanup in fifteen. We need to –" Natasha cut off suddenly, and the others, minus Steve, all turned their attention to the skyscraper half a mile away. Seven people rode along seven large, magically propelled panes of glass and were headed right for them.

"Freaking show offs," Tony muttered. No one spared him a look, but tightened their respective weapons. The lightning storm overhead rumbled dangerously. Fitting, as the storm that had been looming dangerously in the forethought of the minds of the Avengers was close to landing in front of them.

* * *

_**A/N:**__ A few things: Sorry that this took so long to get out. I wanted to wait until I finished writing chapter 22 before posting this one, but that one took awhile. Also sorry, but no Hulk for this one. That was the whole point of Amora hassling him in DC. Don't worry though, we'll see him again relatively soon._

_I don't think Wanda has telekinesis in the comics, but she will in the movie universe, which is what this is based in. On that note, have you guys heard about that? She and Pietro are going to be on the team in the next movie! Fighting Ultron! Don't know about y'all, but I'm super pumped about that!_


	22. …Not With a Whimper… (Part I)

_**A/N:**__ Dear lord, this is a long one, but action packed so it reads quickly. It took a while to write, so I hope you enjoy it._

_Disclaimer: I don't own these characters._

…_**Not With a Whimper… Part I**_

Baron Zemo was, naturally and fittingly, the first to land before the Avengers. Steve didn't take his eyes off of him. Quicksilver was next, followed by Abomination slamming into the ground, leaving a sizable crater.

The Avengers locked eyes with their respective counterpart, except Clint, who didn't have one.

Sirens blared in the far distance echoed by distant, but distinct screams of frightened civilians.

For a long time, no one said a word. The only immediate sounds were the lightning storm up ahead and the loud, nervous wheezing breaths taken by Scott.

The tension in the air was electric; almost as much as the storm above. There, within thirty feet of them, were the people who had made their lives living hells either over the last week or all their lives. Tony was a traitor and outlaw, Bruce was an outlaw and likely to be executed on sight. Pietro had been brainwashed by Amora and nearly killed Wanda, and would have if Thor hadn't have interfered in time. Viper had taken Jessica as a young girl and twisted her into a weapon and had had her way with her at her leisure. Yelena had repeatedly tried to kill Natasha, and had come closer than most more often than the superspy cared to admit.

There was so much collective history between the two groups; so much more than the world was at stake. But Steve and the others knew that that was the main concern.

Tony was the first to break the silence, of course. "Really, Gene, a white suit? You going to a prison wedding right after we kick your asses?"

Gene couldn't help but grin. "I'm a contrarian. I like wearing white to funerals." Tony felt his smile fall flat.

"Well, there won't be any funerals today, Mandarin. Last chance, give up," Steve said dangerously. A not insignificant part of him hoped they'd decline. He was in the mood to kick some teeth in. "On second thought, scratch that. You people have caused too many deaths and ruined too many lives to get one more chance. It ends TONIGHT!" His roar echoed across the city blocks and over the background noise in the distance.

Baron Zemo could only shrug. "Yes, Rogers. It does end tonight. One way," he drew his vibranium sword, "or another."

In an instant, Captain America's famous shield clanged against his sword. The force absorbing properties of the sword nullified the contact and Steve's shield fell like a stone. Steve sprinted for it as the Avengers scattered, their respective counterparts chasing after them.

Steve dove and grabbed his shield just as Zemo drove his blade downward. Sparks from the collision kicked up and brushed against his face. He ignored it, screaming mentally and sweeping the Baron's feet from under him.

"You haven't changed a bit, have you, Rogers?" Zemo sounded confident and amused. Steve soon found out why in the form of a sharp kick to the shin. "Still prone to making mistakes."

He recoiled from the blow and couldn't dodge the right hook to his jaw in time. He countered with a shield swing, but it was ducked under and retaliated with two quick jabs to each oblique. "When you murdered my father, you should have done so with me. Think of how much easier your life could be _right now_ if you had've!"

Steve frowned and blocked the right jab and returned with a swift boot to the midsection. "I spared you because I couldn't… can't kill someone so young."

"And that's why the world is better off without you. This planet is on a a downward trend toward destruction and anarchy, and it needs strong men who know and are willing to do what needs to be done to achieve order. If that means killing a street punk, regardless of age, then do be it."

"You're a madman." Steve wasn't surprised to hear that Zemo felt that way and sounded like he had every intention of carrying it out. He nimbly parried a sword lunge and caught Zemo on the side of the head. The man stumbled and was then spear tackled into a parked car, throwing both of them for a loop.

"No, Rogers, you are the madman, for refusing to see this world for what it really is," Zemo countered while climbing to his feet. "Back in your day, you could have your door wide open without worry. Now, do so and it is an invitation to have your entire household murdered before your eyes. The days of love thy neighbor are over, Rogers. What this world needs is men of action, not ideals and kind words."

They traded blows, both rocking the other's body with devastating punches and kicks. Zemo matched Steve's flashy acrobatics with his own fancy moves, leading to a frenzying whirlwind of flying limbs and twirling bodies.

"What this world needs is freedom from men like you. You know nothing but your own twisted ideal and selfish desires, Zemo. That's why you'll fail. You're too selfish and self-absorbed to attempt to save this planet for too long."

Zemo actually chuckled and caught Steve's arm with his left while drawing his pistol with his right. "Ever the idealist, eh, Rogers? Always seeing what people _should_ be, not what they _actually_ are." He aimed for Steve's shoulder, but the super soldier took the moment to pull him off balance, forcing his shot askew, before slamming him into the ground.

"Yes, I always try to look for the good in people. I always think that there is an inherent ability for good in everyone. If I were to think like you, then should I even bother?"

Zemo spun around and knocked his feet from under him. "Lesser men ask the same of themselves everyday. Not Zemos. I have transcended such self doubts. I and I alone hold the vision to lead this civilization to the future it deserves."

Both men whipped their legs around and spun to their feet. Zemo used his momentum to launch a sword slash, but it was blocked by Steve, who had the same idea. "Only a narcissist would try to do a job reserved for God."

They struggled against each other, neither gaining any ground on the other. "Only a fool thinks God still cares for mankind. After all we have done, it is up to us to lead us into the light. And I will be at the fore of that movement." He grunted and exerted his strength to the full. He managed to push Steve back a little.

"You'll be at the fore of a movement, alright," he replied coolly before falling back. Zemo's forward momentum carried him off balance and directly on top of Steve. The soldier used his powerful legs to propel him into a nearby car.

Jessica and Viper had to dive out of the way to avoid the flying Zemo before he smashed into the parked BMW. Viper was first to her feet and managed to land a kick to her abdomen. "I hope you aren't giving up so easily, my sweet little spider."

Just hearing her speak was enough to send chills up her spine. But she fought through that and jumped to her feet. "Never," she spat while landing a punch to both sides of her jaw. "You abandoned me as soon as I was captured! That was the best thing that you've ever done for me!"

"The best– How dare you!" She caught her next punch and drove her knee into her midsection. "I gave you everything. Without me, you would be nothing!" Jessica grunted and recoiled back. "You were always ungrateful of my love." She connected with a hook to the left side of Jessica's jaw, causing her to almost spin around. "I took you in when you were a lost lamb, and how do you repay me? By constantly attempting to escape."

"You tortured me!" A roundhouse kick, though it was ducked under, gained a little ground between the two. "I was just a child and you made me to through all of that training. And for what? To make me into you little pet?"

"You foolish little girl."

Hearing those words took her back to when she was little, back when she was living in a cell in the Hydra outpost. Every night after hours of intense training, more intense than what a little girl should have to suffer through, Viper would slip inside to examine her. She always asked when she could go home, and Viper would always answer, "You foolish little girl, you are home," followed by a sharp backhand.

Like clockwork, the swift backhand snapped crisply across her cheek. She touched her cheek and felt a soft whimper escape passed her lips. "I love you, Jessica. Her fist landed in Jessica's midsection, and the woman folded over. "And you return that love with betrayal and the gall to be angry with me, your own mother!" A sharp elbow to the back of the head sent Jessica crumpling to the ground. "I birthed you! I cared about you! I mothered you! I gave you everything you needed!"

Each declaration was punctuated with a sharp blow to either side of her face. Each strike sent Jessica further and further back into the old ways; back when she was the little girl and Viper was her mother. Behind her mask, her eyes turned red and threatened to tear up. "Why," she uttered softly.

Viper held her punch back and considered the woman for a moment. "Because I am your parent, and parents discipline misbehaving children." With that, she went to strike her again, but the blow was parried and returned with a headbutt. Viper recoiled, allowed Jessica to shift her legs under her and kick her off.

Viper tumbled and rolled to her feet, only to find Jessica flying toward and slamming into her. "I am not a child!" she roared while blasting her in the face. "I am not afraid of you! I don't need you, or anything else you gave me!"

Completely different than the last time she saw her a few days ago, something within Jessica snapped. It had been five years since she depended on Viper; and even though she was initially terrified of seeing her again, the moment was too important to let her fear get the better of her.

She wasn't Jessica Drew, agent of Hydra anymore. She was Jessica Drew, agent of SHIELD, Jessica Drew, member of the Avengers, Jessica Drew, independent woman.

As corny and phoned in as the sentiment perhaps sounded coming from a grown woman, it was important to her. As much of an ass as Fury was, he showed her that she didn't need to depend on anyone but herself. For that, she was forever, truly grateful.

"Fine." Viper bent her tongue back and squirted several drops of venom into Jessica's eyes. She was immune, but still having it hit stung.

"Agh," she grunted as she jumped back. That gave Viper a chance to throw her off and grabbed her whip.

"I will show you what happens," she started while flicking the whip around her neck, "what happens to those who betray their mother." With all her strength, she grunted and flung her by the neck into a nearby parked car, and then again into another parked car on the opposite side before slamming her into the pavement.

She coughed and tried to unwrap the whip. "Ah ah ah. There's no getting out of this spanking." A set of small, razor sharp claws popped out of her gloves. "I will make you pay for leaving me." She ran the claws down her back, drawing blood and coaxing a pained scream from her former agent.

She drew the whip taut, forcing her to her knees and rose her hand to strike her face. Two gunshots from somewhere nearby broke the whip, sending her stumbling back. Jessica coughed and rubbed her ragged throat. "Who would da–" she started before being rammed into at high speed.

"Your fight is with me, mum! Thanks, whoever!"

"You're welcome," Natasha said. She paid her mind for only a brief second more before ducking under a roundhouse kick.

"I shall enjoy murdering you and taking your place," the young blonde spy stated.

"You're not good enough, kid," she fired back. She blocked a punch and whipped Yelena to the ground smoothly. "You don't have what it takes. Never have, never will."

"Shut up," she growled out. She batted Natasha away with a well placed knee to the face and flipped to her feet. "You are well passed your expiration date, Romanova. You have let America taint you. You are unworthy to carry our name." A pair of roundhouses parried the jabs Natasha was throwing. "You call yourself Natasha and not by your God given name, Natalia. You are a disgrace."

"What does that make you, then?" She twirled around her and swept her feet from under her. She jumped over the kick to the knee and then drove it into her chest. "You've tried and failed to kill me over five years, and now you need help to fail again. It's you who's the disgrace around here." She smirked when the other Black Widow growled and lunged for her. She fell back and caught her atop her feet, and then propelled her away.

Yelena rolled with the fall and slid to a stop. "It means you have been extremely lucky." Natasha snapped a kick toward her head, but she ducked and swept her plant leg out from under her. Natasha fell and slammed her head directly into Yelena's knee. "You see? You are nothing."

In one quick motion, Natasha's gun was drawn and fired. It barely missed Yelena's head. "Warning shot."

"You should have hit me," she said. A zip line shot out of her Widow's Bite bracelet and wrapped around Natasha's leg. Thinking quickly, Natasha did the same to her before they both jerked their arms back to trip the other. Yelana fired a shot in the general vicinity of Natasha to buy some time and cut herself free. Natasha did the same and dashed toward her.

They met and engaged in a flurry of agile and precise kicks and punches that never landed because one always managed to parry or dodge.

Natasha remembered training with Yelena for months, years after they both became Black Widows. She remembered seeing and sensing the animosity the younger woman developed for her when the higher ups of the Red Room commended her more often.

Jealousy drove people to do crazy things. Once Natasha defected, it came as little surprise when Yelena first attempted to kill her for betraying the Red Room and her country. Even after it was dismantled and those in charge either killed or arrested, Yelena kept at it. Natasha determined that it was a personal obsession to be the best, better than her.

It was sad, in a way. They were almost exactly alike. If she let go of her hatred and anger toward her, then she could have been doing something productive for society, instead of being an obsessed weirdo.

Such was life, she learned. Bad guys never did what was good for themselves. Their selfishness and self-centered desires kept them from attaining what was best for themselves.

Mentally, she shook her head. Yelena was competent and talented. She would be a shoe in for a position at SHIELD based off name alone. She would even take her under her wing herself.

Natasha quickly realized as she dodged yet another punch that that wasn't going to happen. She booted her away a few feet to give herself some space. She dashed toward her and flipped behind her to put her in a sleeper hold. Yelena blocked up by slipping her hand to block the back of her head, but she was still trapped. "Clint!" she yelled out.

The archer turned and immediately fired an arrow at the blonde. It seemed destined to impale itself into her eye, which would end her life.

The arrow never made it to its intended target. Instead, it was caught within a foot of them by a pair of fingers belonging to Moonstone, aka Karla Sofen. "No bullseye for you, Clint," she said. She flicked the shaft with her thumbed and snapped it off, leaving only the arrow head and what little was left of the shaft trapped between her fingers.

"Really, now, you need someone else to finish what you started?" she said mockingly to Natasha before flicking the arrow head at her. Her strength sent at flying at speed and it tore through Natasha's thigh. The redhead screamed and fell to the ground. "You're welcome, kid."

"NATASHA!" Clint roared.

Karla rolled her eyes and watched him sprint toward her, only to be kicked and punched away by Yelena. He stumbled back and tried to fire an arrow, but it was flipped over and sailed into a building.

"Bravo, Clint. Nice aim, there, really," she taunted.

He growled and bared his teeth at her. "You, how could you do this?"

"It's quite simple, really. I merely got tired of depending on other people to provide me with what I want. Whether it was my parents working for other, richer people, my patients paying me commission, or whatever the case may be. That's all in the past; now, now I'm taking what I want."

"And you depend on Zemo for the plan to get it," Clint replied while notching an arrow.

"Hm, true. But afterwards, whatever I want is mine. And neither you nor anyone else will stop me."

Clint admitted deep down that it hurt to hear her say that. Not because he was in love with her or anything, but because he still cared about her. Her being on the wrong side of the law meant that he had to take her out, and he wasn't sure if he could. Literally. He wasn't sure if his arrows packed enough punch to take her down. Or if they were even fast enough to hit her.

His answer to the latter question came quickly when she easily dodged his arrow from within ten feet.

He flipped onto a car and fired a sonic arrow with a range of two feet. If she dodged, it would emit a powerful sonic blast that only affect those within the set range. Compliments of Tony Stark.

Karla was unaware of this, so when she moved her head barely, it activated and sent an extremely powerful, extremely loud sonic blast directly into her ear. She barked and stumbled back.

"Yes," Clint cheered and wasted no time in notching another around and firing. This one was a flare that landed at her feet and let loose a powerful flash of light that blinded her for a moment. He took that chance to run away inside a building. "Carol, can you hear me?"

Carol, who was hiding behind a car in waiting for a chance to jump aboard the self-repaired Quinjet with the SHIELD agent she grabbed, quickly answered, "Loud and clear! What the hell is going on?!"

Clint could hear the nervousness in her voice. She had probably seen fire fights before, but never like this. "A war between metahumans. You'll get used to it. Anyway, I need backup from the Quinjet. Karla is –"

_=Got it.=_

From what Steve said, he figured she'd be more than up for tangling with Karla again. Clint reached a good spot on one of the upper floors and kneeled down by a window. He could see Karla still suffering from his flare, as well as Carol and another agent running aboard the Quinjet. Good, it was all coming together.

He fired a grenade arrow, with struck her in the back and exploded. He heard her annoyed grunt and sighed. _This is gonna be harder than I thought._ He fired another arrow and headed for a lower level; mainly because going any higher might stymie what escape routes he had. He really didn't want to jump out of a window.

"Where are you?!" he heard her bellow. It wasn't a second later before the building next his shook from her crashing into it. He winced and quickened his pace down the stairs. A blue light flashed, followed closely by a loud explosion that propelled debris and glass into the walls and windows of his building. It was followed by three more explosions before he figured the building had had enough.

Sure enough, the deafening roar of the building collapsing sent electric chills up his spine. "Shit," he cursed as he finally reached the ground floor and dashed out into the massive gray cloud of dust and debris.

_Holy shit!_

Sirens blared in the background and it made Clint remember and thank the heavens that there weren't any civilians around. _=Hawkeye, report!=_ demanded Steve.

Clint was about to responded but succumbed to a powerful coughing fit that nearly made him choke on a lung. "I'm here," he said, strangled.

_=Jesus, Clint, tell your girlfriend to take a Midol,=_ Natasha quipped.

_=Better make that several,=_ added Jessica. He didn't miss the worry in either of their voices.

"I'm surprised you two can crack jokes while getting your asses kicked," he managed to crack back.

The winds of a sudden, but timely twister from Thor rumbled through the street and carried the dust and debris out of the area. Clint took a deep breath of fresh air and coughed one final time to clear his throat. "I never will understand smokers," he said off-handedly.

_=Clint, watch your three!= _Carol alerted through the comm. He turned and saw Karla standing within fifteen feet of him.

"Clint," she said in a sing song manner, "you're making me angry. I like to break things that make me angry."

He gulped and notched his most powerful arrow, which still wasn't powerful enough to even destroy a building, which was what he needed to work with right then. "Carol, I could use some help."

_=Roger that. Lock and load, motherfucker!=_

The Quinjet opened fire without warning. He jumped and ducked out of the way of the hail of bullets unleashed upon Karla. Orange streaks of hot lead tore into her and the ground beneath her, leaving nothing but a cloud of dust. The barrage continued for a lengthy fifteen seconds, much to Clint's, and everyone else's, discomfort.

_=These guns are wicked fucking awesome!=_

"Could you fire some more? I don't think I'm completely deaf yet," he said with full sarcasm.

_=Sorry. At least she's dead though, right?=_

"Yeah, I…" Karla suddenly emerged, costume in tatters but otherwise unharmed, and flicked him in the chest. It felt like a full on punch from Steve and sent him flying and slamming into a building nearly twenty feet away.

"Pardon me, Clint; I need to deal with some trash."

Carol couldn't stop her jaw from falling open. She had literally rained hell down on that bitch, and she was still alive. It was like she was bulletproof, or something. "Shit."

Karla rose into the air, arms cross and expression set to annoyed. "That dumb townie again," she realized with a faint sigh. She had grown tired of Carol not knowing her place, and thus set out to teach it to her the old-fashioned way. She surged forward and smashed into, and through, the Quinjet. Before its two passengers could scream, she crashed through it two more times, sending twisted pieces of scrap metal falling to the ground below.

Obviously, the jet couldn't sustain flight with that sort of damage. "Let's get you out of here." She shifted her molecules, which was a byproduct of her lengthy exposure to her moonstone, and turned intangible. Slipping her hand inside the falling jet, she shifted the molecules in her hand to turn it solid and grabbed Carol. Both her hand, and Carol turned intangible and phased harmlessly through the the cockpit walls.

"Put me down!" she screamed as they turned solid again. It took most of her strength not devoted to hanging on to Karla's arm to not vomit up her lunch. Intangibility, she thought it was called, wasn't something she wanted to experience again.

She drew her handgun and fired at point blank range, because why not.

All but one, which was caught between her teeth, bounced harmlessly off her face. Rolling her eyes, she spit the bullet out, which managed to tear through her shoulder.

Carol screamed out and clutch her bleeding arm with her free arm. "You need to learn your place, townie. Permanently." Karla dropped her from nearly two hundred feet.

Carol couldn't fly, obviously, so if she hit the pavement, it was all over. "HELP!"

Wanda deflected a magic bolt and returned with a hex bolt before turning her attention to the cry for help. Carol was falling fast and would be dead on impact. Thinking quickly, she fired a hex bolt at the large puddle of water that had been growing since she erupted the water main.

Carol screamed all the way until she splashed into the puddle, which then had the deepness of a swimming pool. Wanda waited until the woman resurfaced before turning her attention to Amora.

"T'was a nice little trick. But you had better have more than tricks if you wish to best me!"

Wanda narrowed her eyes while slipping off the rest of her tattered cape. "I don't wish to best you, Enchantress. I merely I want my brother back."

To that, Amora laughed heartily. "Foolish mortal. Quicksilver's mind is mine, and mine alone. The day you retrieve him back will be the day I've finally had my fill of him. But by then, there wouldn't be much left him."

Wanda grimace and took a dangerous step forward. "You've mistaken a request for a demand, Asgardian. I want my brother back, now." Her hand glowed with the crimson, blood red of her magical affinity. A dark shadow, darker than any other, cast itself behind her. Amora eyed it warily. "If you truly know what is best for your wellbeing, you'll abide by it."

"Was that a threat, little witch?" Amora's hands glowed green as her own magical energies surfaced. "You mortals… always so quick to posture and puff yourselves up in the face of greatness. You have been blessed with the attention of a goddess, you dull, whimpering buffoon. You could, at the very least, –"

She was cut off by a gust of wind with the solidness of a brick wall hitting her in the face. The attack sent her flying nearly twenty feet before she skidded another ten to a stop. First the picture of confusion, she snarled and prepared her own attack upon rising to her feet. "How dare you interrupt me while I was spea–" She was interrupted again by her own attack exploding in her face.

Wanda chuckled derisively and then scanned the area carefully. Her teammates her all locked in heated battled and seemed to be dead even with their counterparts. But she still didn't see or feel Pietro anywhere. That made her both relieved and nervous at the same time. He was likely waiting and watching for the right moment to strike his mistress' assailant.

That being her.

Well, he was going to have a harder time about that than he did the last time.

The thought made her wounds flare with pain. She didn't like not knowing where he was. She couldn't defend herself properly without knowing where her potential attacker was. _Dammit. Where are you?_

So focused on her twin was she that she nearly missed the beam being fired her way. She only had a brief second to wave her hands in a circular motion. A circular shield, a little larger than Steve's with red archaic runes revolving around the outer rim, appeared just in time to block the magical beam. The force still knocked her back a few feet before she regained her bearings, however.

She grunted. Enchantress was strong, there was no doubting that. Even with her decade or so of training, Amora was over a thousand years old and had fifty times as long to train and hone her skills.

The force of Enchantress' attack continued to push Wanda back. She had to think fast, or she'd be overwhelmed. _Got it!_ She tapped her foot on the ground, sending a hex through the pavement. The ground shook, and then quickly crumbled into pieces, forming a rift between her, all the way until it reached Amora. The Asgardian stumbled and fell to the ground, which disrupted her energy beam.

Wanda took the reprieve in stride, and dashed to a new position and prepared another attack. She quickly fired another hex bolt, this one incendiary, and watched it just catch a dodging Amora on the leg. One of her leggings caught on fire.

Amora snarled as she patted the fire out. "That is it!" The ground actually shook as she charged and fired a magical arrow that was moving too fast for Wanda to dodge.

"Wha–" she managed before it shattered her hastily made shield and sent her flying into a parked car.

She groaned and rolled from the car to the ground with a soft thud. "Ugh…"

Amora smirked and sauntered toward her. She knew that her best slave was watching in the shadows, waiting for her command to attack. He was the best attack dog; and the best looking, too. Not as good looking as Thor, but then, who was? She hoped she could convince him at some point during the day to come to her side, where he belonged.

She hummed and held her hand out. A small flame flickered in her palm. "Poor, poor little witch. Did you have a nasty fall?"

Wanda stood shakily and gritted her teeth. "Shut up! You haven't won a damned thing!"

Amora laughed. "Piteous fool. I have not attained victory, because I am not trying to. Why should I thole through the boredom of a quick victory, when I can humor you, and then watch your resolve be crazed in the most amusing manner possible?" With that, she pointed her inflamed hand toward Wanda. The diminutive flame exploded outward into a full fledged stream of fire that hurtled toward her.

Wanda had a second to summon a hex cloud that froze the air to snuff the flame just enough for what little remained to be no more intense than that of a scented candle. She also had no idea what she meant by having her resolve crazed. "Speak normally, you weirdo!"

She rolled her eyes. "I mean your resolve will be broken, moron."

"And how do you plan on accomplish that? I don't break easily."

Amora smiled cryptically, and then turned her back on her. "You'll see right now. I have grown bored with this plucky performance, mortal. You wish to have your little brother at your side once more?"

Wanda allowed herself to fall headlong into Amora's clutches. "Yes! Please release him!"

"So it has been said, so it shall be done." She snapped her fingers and hopped onto a car some ways away to watch. "This seems like a good place to watch."

"Watch what?"

She didn't have a chance to inquire more when the familiar whoosh of her brother traveling at high speed and then coming to a stop sounded in between her and Amora. A cloud of dust and slight breeze heralded his appearance. "Pietro," she said excitedly. His green eyes bores evilly into hers. "No… You said you'd release him!"

"I said no such thing. I merely said that he would be at your side once more. …Okay, perhaps I lied. Oh well. Now, be a dear, Pietro, and entertain me."

"As you wish, Amora." Pietro's smile was a twisted caricature of the one Wanda had come to love over the years.

Wanda frowned and charged a pair of hex bolts. She was getting a little winded. Her training with Avengers had greatly improved her stamina in regards her powers, but her short duel with Amora had her feeling like she just finished a brisk jog. "I don't want to hurt you, brother."

"You'd better get over that, sister." He took a dangerous step forward, but backed off after a clap of thunder shook the block. Literally.

**"AMORA!"** Her head shot upward where the shout came from and saw Thor flying toward her. "Amora, release the boy and cease this madness! So speaks Thor!"

She rolled her eyes. "Please. Your commands are meaningless to me, beloved. If you were smart, you would join me and my allies. For after this day, the Avengers shall be no more."

The Abomination landed a few yards away, with Goliath next to him. Thor eyed them warily. "Nay. If you were smart, you would surrender and submit yourself to trial before Odin. If my words are heeded, then I shall ensure that you are judged leniently."

She scoffed nervously. "Nay to thee, I say, Thunderer. Abomination, Goliath, rid my presence of this handsome fool."

Scott gulped and nodded. "Okay, Ms. Enchantress." He saw Amora roll her eyes and turn her attention to Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. He turned his own attention to the god with the big hammer. It looked sturdy enough to cave his head in with one hit.

"Have at thee, curs!" Lightning crackled around Thor's hammer as he ducked under Abomination and launched him into a building. He eyed Scott angrily, who could only fall and cower.

"Please, God, don't hurt me!" he pleaded.

Thor quirked a curious eyebrow. "What? Are you not planning on engaging me in combat, villain?"

Scott rose to his feet and placed his hand in front of him in a peaceful manner. "NO! I'm not a villain! I'm just doing this because I have no choice!" He took his mask off. "My name is Scott Lang. I was kidnapped along with –"

"Hank Pym! Tony was speaking about finding you over the last week. Are you both unhurt?"

"Yes, but I'm being forced to be a part of this team of psychos or they'll –" Scott was cut off by Blonsky reappearing and ramming Thor into the building behind them. Dust and debris splashed back from the collision into his face. He coughed, and didn't see Amora until she backhanded him into the ground.

"Coward. You would beg for mercy instead of fight as you were commanded. Little Scottsdóttir depends on your obedience, does she not? T'would be a shame if she were to perish in the most painful manner possible."

Scott gulped and stared at her merciless green eyes, looking for even a little hint of a veiled threat. To his chagrin, there wasn't any. "I… I understand." He pulled his mask on and began growing. He groaned and felt his bones expand and stretch his skin. He groaned deepened as his height reached and exceeded three hundred and fifty feet.

He sighed and lumbered quickly over to where he heard Thor and Abomination battling.

Thor's speed and flight ability was a great advantage over Abomination. He could float just out of reach of his highest jump and blast him with powerful lightning bolts.

He did just that for the fourth time in less than two minute, and this time, Abomination struggled to reach his feet. He followed that up with a swirling white energy blast that reduced the lower half of the building they were beside to rubble and left Abomination lying unconscious in a deep crater.

"T'was not your day, beast," he said with a confident grin. With his opponent dispatched for the time being, he could give his team aid. For now, it appeared that the fair Wanda was the one most in need of his assistance.

He was about to leave when he heard what sounded like thundering footsteps that were getting louder with each step. "Zounds! A giant!" he exclaimed when Scott appeared around the then dilapidated and dangerously leaning building. "Wait… Sir Lang, what is the meaning of this?"

He didn't answer him, other than, "For Cassie," he whispered. After that, his fist surged forward and impacted with a surprised Thor. It drove him into the ground and into the underground sewer system.

After Scott's fist retracted back through the hole, Thor groaned and sat up. It wasn't a Hulk level punch, but it still was somewhat uncomfortable.

"STAY DOWN, AVENGER!" his voice boomed, "I DON'T WANT TO HURT YOU ANYMORE THAN I ALREADY HAVE!"

"Fool!" He tossed his hammer at speed and pegged Scott in the face. The giant screamed and clutched his eye as he stumbled and fell into the remainder of the hollowed out building, which collapsed on top of him.

Thor flew out of the hole after him, caught the rebounding hammer and went to confront Scott. "Scott Lang! Stand and fight!"

Scott groaned and pushed tons of debris off of his chest and rose to a sitting position. _How did I get caught up in this?_ "PLEASE! I DON'T WANT TO FIGHT YOU!"

Thor scoffed and spun his hammer over his head. "'Tis not a decision to be made now, Lang. Therewithal, if you are a member of the Masters of Evil, it had been made long before our encounter." With that, a bolt of lightning streaked from the lightning storm overhead to his hammer, and then directly into Scott's chest.

The man screamed out again, which at his size, sounded more like a roar.

Thor couldn't understand it. Scott Lang, he had learned, was a friend of Tony's. He had been kidnapped by Hydra along with Hank Pym. Why was he fighting alongside evil if he was just an innocent victim?

He watched the man struggle to get to his feet, but end up like a gigantic, pathetic mess. This man was no warrior, not even one in training. He fought like a man filled with desperation. Perhaps something to do with whoever this Cassie woman was.

"Tell, Scott Lang. Who is this Cassie you spoke earlier?"

Scott rose to his knees and clutched his smoldering chest wound. "SHE… SHE'S MY TEN YEAR OLD DAUGHTER. SHE'S BEING HELD CAPTIVE BY HYDRA, AND THE ONLY WAY TO KEEP HER ALIVE IS TO FIGHT FOR THESE MADMEN!" He took a deep breath and rose to his feet, albeit wobbily.

Thor, after hearing this, was disgusted. A mere child being held prisoner and used as leverage over a desperate father. It was among the utmost cowardice. Thor shook his head and rose above a badly telegraphed punch. "You are an innocent man, Scott. Once the Masters of Evil have been defeated, I give you my word that we shall free your daughter."

Thor saw large tracts of tears running down the giant man's cheeks. "I… Thank you, Thor. I don't know how I can repay you," he whispered, or whispered for a giant.

"Repay me by surviving this bout with me so that you can be free with your daughter. You are required just to fight, not win, correct?"

Scott smiled and nodded. Thor returned it with gusto and prepared for the glorified sparing match. It would be good; he had never fought a being this size before.

"So that was Scott that took Janet," Tony muttered to himself. It wasn't hard for his auditory receptors to pick up Scott's booming voice in his giant form. And it didn't surprise him that Hydra had taken Cassandra as leverage. They were monsters, pure and simple.

What he didn't understand, was why his one time friend, Gene Khan, was dead set on killing him. Okay, a lot of people, especially those who could be classified as friends wanted to kill him at times, but that was because he was being stupid.

To his recollection, he did nothing wrong to Gene. He didn't steal his girlfriend, he didn't slight him at a party one time almost twenty years ago, he didn't ruin an experiment of his; he actually did nothing to the guy.

So why?

Why was the question he was asking a lot when thinking of Gene. Why was he evil? Why did he allow Killian and the actor guy to masquerade as him? Why was he wearing clear sunglasses at night?

So many questions that he intended to get the answers to.

He dodged a beam and returned fire. "Okay," he stated, "let's play a little game we used to at MIT. You know, twenty questions?"

Gene chuckled and shrugged. "Why not? Just like old times, right?" Tony grimaced behind his facemask as his rings glowed ominously from within his pockets.

"First off, why are you evil? It's only been, what, seven years since I last saw you. People don't just turn evil without a reason, so what gives?"

Gene shrugged and removed his left hand from his pocket. The pinkie ring glowed as he pointed it at Tony. "I'm not," he answered. A white beam erupted from the ring and barely missed a dodging Tony. Even still, as the vacuum from the empty beam filled, a deafening boom nearly knocked him out of the air.

Jarvis activated the sound dampeners just in time, but his ears were still ringing. Whatever windows were still intact after the superhuman battle shattered for up to three blocks away.

Tony shook his head and rocketed ahead. "Jarvis keep the sound filters on Gene's voice and nothing else."

_"Yes, sir."_

He reached Gene and fired a medium powered repulsor toward the man's chest. He dodge, but that opened him up to a rocketing Tony slamming into him. He grunted and recoiled back. "What're you talking about? I mean, clearly you are."

"Actually… I'm not. I haven't killed anyone, I actually haven't done anything, besides sending the initial message."

"What?" That confused the genius, as much as he hated to admit it. If he wasn't evil, then what was he doing with Masters of Evil, all of which were clearly bad to the bone. "Then why are you doing this? Because it doesn't look like you honestly have anything to gain from this."

"I actually do. China; all of it. You're just in my way from taking it over myself right now. Thus, my presence here."

Tony frowned. China, huh? _You would go after that, wouldn't you?_ Tony remembered Gene talking about how he wanted to be President of China while growing up. He claimed at the time that he wanted to bring true democracy to his home country; now, Tony was sure he planned on ruling it with an vibranium fist.

"Yeah, that's right. Once you all are out of the picture, I'll take it over and clean out the old regime and plant in my own loyals. I'll be leading them into a whole new era; a brighter era that hasn't been seen in the history of the country."

Tony's frown deepened. He surged ahead, miniguns blazing. A bubble of pure darkness leaked out from Gene's right pinkie ring. The bullets bounced off harmlessly. Tony quirked an eyebrow and stared in confusion, and thus couldn't avoid the hammer that flowed out of the darkness field and smacked into him.

"Tsk," Gene hummed as he watched Tony slam into the ground below.

Tony crawled to his knees by the time he reached the pavement. "What the hell was that?"

"Nightbringer," he answered coolly. "Ah, it creates malleable darkness. There are so many things these rings can do. I'd wager I could easily defeat you, and all of your friends by myself."

More from those rings. "What the hell are those? They couldn't do any of that shit when Trevor Slattery was the Mandarin!"

Gene laughed. "Ha! That moron? He was never the Mandarin; he was just a patsy. Someone to take the heat and attention from me while I moved and shifted events to better suit me from the background. Killian was a fool and easy to bend to my will." He raised his left hand and the ring finger flashed briefly. "It was easy to make him loyal to me with Daimonic. It was easier to make him think that he was in control of AIM. Under my control, he carried out my decisions and desires while under the perception that it was he making those decisions. I even allowed him to carry my name and Slattery to wear my rings. A codename is just that, so it honestly didn't matter."

"Why? Why couldn't he do all the things you can do?" Tony rocketed skyward to avoid a concentrated beam of heat that warped the air as it traveled by him and pierced through the building.

Gene laughed again and followed him. "Because I didn't let him. Not that he knew; the fool thought that they were just props. And as far as he was concerned, they were. Only I and those I allow can use the ten rings."

That explained quite a bit. Tony was a little concerned about how freely he was being with the amount of information he was giving. He was also concerned by how nonchalant he was during their battle. Granted, Tony was doing more talking than fighting, but still. "Gene, you have to know that none of this matters. At the end of the day, we'll be the only ones standing."

A cryptic smirk crossed his lips. "Is that so? Because you all haven't won against us once. If it wasn't for Zemo being a diva, three of your teammates would be dead already. Including your beloved leader. Face it, we've beaten you at every turn. Why should today be any different?"

A good question. He himself had even pointed that out ad nauseum. But, this was the first time the two groups had actually faced off against each other in whole, other than Abomination fighting Thor. They had to win. They were going to win.

"Because, the last time we absolutely had to win, we did. Loki, you may have heard of him. Why should you all be any different?"

Gene just shrugged. "Why say, when I can just show you." His right index ring, the same that made a fool out of him all those weeks ago, flashed brightly. A bright orange beam shot out and collided with Tony's repulsor ray. The beams battled for momentum, but neither gained an inch on the other. Tony didn't know about Gene, but he wasn't going to be able to keep it up forever.

Gene, on the other hand, knew that his power ring could keep it up for a least as long as Tony could, if not longer. Plus, he had nine other rings to break the standstill. A concentrated wind vortex shot of the same ring that was keeping him afloat and hit Tony square in the gauntlet. It hit with such force that it actually disrupted the repulsor. He was overwhelmed by the impact beam and slammed through a building.

He groaned and kicked some debris and a desk off of his legs. "Jarvis, damage report."

_"That vortex damaged the plating on the right gauntlet and reduced repulsor output to 60%. Armor integrity impacted by the impact beam has been reduced to 85%."_

Tony sighed and crawled out of building. "Ugh, dammit."

"Jeez, Tony, you're not doing so well. But tell me, how's that PTSD working out for you?"

Tony froze. He hadn't had an episode in nearly two months. "Fine. What's it to you?"

He shrugged as the ring on his left ring finger glowed bright orange. "Nothing for me. The Liar, on the other hand…" The orange glow exploded into a full out orange field that engulfed both men. "Just remember one thing," he said. The sky became dark, as dark as the nighttime sky. Little white lights ignited in the distance, and Tony found it very, very hard to breathe.

"No… It can't be. J-Jarvis!"

_"Iiiiii'm heeeerrreeeee, ssssiiiiiiirr–"_

"Jarvis, for the love of God, answer me!"

There was no answer.

He couldn't breath. Not because there wasn't any oxygen in space, but because he was going to die. Just like when he flew through the portal to save Manhattan from the idiots in the World Security Council, his suit shut down, cutting off what little oxygen he had left.

Sweat poured down his face. His suit suddenly felt like a furnace and a torture device all rolled into one. He tried to move, to reach the manual release and take the suit off for a little reprieve, but with it offline, he was trapped.

"Remember Tony," Gene's voice slurred out like an echo, "in space, no one can hear you scream."


	23. …Not With a Whimper… (Part II)

_Disclaimer: I don't own these characters_

…_**Not With a Whimper… (Part II)**_

Wanda stood a mere thirty feet away from Pietro, unmoving and unblinking. Dust swept across her eyes, making them water, but she didn't dare take her eyes off of him, even for the picoseconds it would take to blink.

No one present knew the depths of his speed more than the two of them; and even they didn't quite know his limits. One blink, and she could have a knife sticking out of the side of her neck.

And she didn't doubt that this current Pietro would do it, either. She could feel Enchantress' magic pouring off of him like a reeky musk; she had wrapped tightly around her little finger. There was nothing right then that she could do, except try and fight him off. "Pietro, are you still slave to that witch?"

She couldn't help but take a small jab in hopes that a small piece of his old self would leak through.

That didn't happen. Instead, he smirked and said, "Yes. Amora is a fine mistress. Unlike you, sister."

She didn't think she had been treating him like a slave. In fact, she knew she hadn't. Everything he did for her was from the heart. "I'm sorry you feel that," she replied with a broad statement. "I hope you don't think I'll be going easy on you." Her hands glowed red.

He smirk grew into a fleer. "Nope. I'd hope you wouldn't, since I certainly won't be going easy on you." His form then faded away. Sometime between her statement and his response, he had run off. She didn't dare even attempt to look for him. Immediately, she through up a bubble around herself and braced for the inevitable impact.

And it came, more quickly and with more power than she expected. She grunted and fell to her knees as the reverberations recoiled back into her.

"What's wrong sister? Can't take a few hits?" Her response came in the form of a circle of fire erupting from her bubble. He easily dodged by back flipping out of the way, but he got the message. She fired three hexbolts and watched him dance around them with the utmost ease. Had she actually been trying to hit him, she might have been worried.

For years, she had struggled to wonder why her innate hex ability never worked on him. Everyone and everything else, just fine; him, he always said they stung, but showed no signs of misfortune.

She wasn't too concerned about that. Besides, she didn't want to hurt him too badly, and wouldn't be able to hit him regardless if that was her intention. Instead, she focused on the ground around her. The pavement turned slick and gained the friction of black ice. "Can't run without grip," she said.

To her delight, he lost his footing and slid toward her after attempting to blitz her again. That made him an easier target for her telekinesis. She picked him up and slammed him face first into the sidewalk. She winced at the thud of his head hitting the cement. "Are you…" she started before stopping. _Keep it up, Wanda._

"Very good," she heard Amora comment from a distance. Just what she needed, comments from the peanut gallery.

She watched him slowly rise to his feet, crimson liquid pouring out of a small cut and down his face. She frowned and caught herself wanting to tend to his wounds, to apologize and try and make this all better. "Damn you, Amora."

It was only a second of inattentiveness, but a second was a lifetime to the fastest being on the planet. She looked again and saw that he was gone. Five more impacts registered from above before she could brace herself, followed by close to fifty more. If two punches from an Extremis mook cracked the bubble, fifty-five from Pietro shattered it into pieces. She screamed out and caught herself before she fell to her knees.

He landed on top of her, after having attacked from above to bypass the ice, and kneed her in the kidney. Her telekinesis managed to push him away, but she was too slow on the counter. A knife, crafted in Asgard, was embedded into her leg before she knew what happened.

"My, how history repeats itself," he jeered from behind. She ignored the burning pain and whipped a hex bolt over her shoulder. It detonated without hitting him.

"Don't make me turn you into a sloth," she growled out.

"You'd have to catch me first," he replied jovially. It was the first time he didn't actually sound like a deranged lunatic, and that made her more upset because it meant that he was enjoying it. Or at least being made to.

"So be it." An omnidirectional field burst out of her and stopped his advance like a brick wall. He flew back, small plumes of smoke billowing off of him, and landed on his back. She immediately followed that up with a incendiary bolt.

He may have been immune to her hexes, but not her magic. She missed, but the explosion seemed to distract him. "You've underestimated me for the last time!" He sneered and then vanished again.

"Shit," she cried after a sharp pain suddenly flared in her back. She reached back and pulled the second knife out. It was covered in blood all the way to the hilt. "Fuck," she cursed again.

"What's the matter? Feeling a bit light-headed?"

She was, but she wasn't about to admit it. She had pin him to one place. If she keep him in one place, then she could do some damage to him. But she could barely see him; only brief, fleeting glimpses of him zipping by her. She could feel herself becoming dizzier from the blood loss. It wasn't as quick as last time, but she wasn't going to last much longer. "I…I need help," she stammered into her comm.

There wasn't an immediate response, but soon Thor answered. _=Worry not, my Lady. I am on my– AAGH!=_

"Thor? Thor?!"

"Forget him. You're done." Pietro reappeared in front of her and punched her in the face four times before she could blink. She grunted and tried to block the punches, but every time she moved to block, he targeted another area. Her vision blurred slightly.

He smirked and reared his arm back. "Lights out." One taunt too many. Her telekinesis caught his arm and snapped it like a twig. He screamed and tried to reach it, but she had too firm a grasp on him.

"I told you not to underestimate me, little brother. Now you've made me angry." Hexes had no affect on him, neither did her other innate abilities; magic, on the other hand, affected him just as well as anyone else. A scarlet red pentagram appeared under the still writhing Pietro. "I'm sorry." A multi-colored beam of mystical energy shot upward and engulfed Pietro, bombarding him from all sides. He screamed and thrashed violently against the air, but to no avail.

It stopped after a few seconds and she released his then unconscious body. "Forgive me. I–" She screamed and writhed to the ground as she was pelted with green lightning.

"Verily, you shall regret that," Amora said as she casually walked toward her. "I am most unforgiving to those who break my toys." She scowled and increased the intensity.

Wanda's muscles locked up as magical electricity surged through every crevice of her body. Pain receptors were set into overdrive, numbing much of it before some of them actually fried and shut down. When it was finished, she was nothing but a frozen, softly moaning heap.

Amora scoffed and picked her up by the neck. "Ugh. How I detest actually touching you disgusting mortal women." With a casual backhand, she sent Wanda flying into a pile of rubble nearly fifty feet away. The young witch didn't move or make much noise, other than the occasional soft groan. "Oh Pietro, your arrogance is on par with that of Thor or Loki. Perhaps that is why I find you so amusing." She lifted him up and began to heal him.

Clint saw Wanda land limply in the pile of rubble and cursed. "Cap, Wanda's down and looks out!"

Steve cursed sharply and barely dodge a sword lunge from Zemo. "Tony! Need air support, now!" There was no response, other than frantic breathing and soft, incoherent mutterings. "Iron Man, report."

Still nothing but the same.

"Tony! Dammit! Where is he, Clint?"

_=He and Mandarin are airborne, but not actually doing anything. …Comm sounds like Tony's having an episode somehow, sounds serious.=_

Steve cursed again. This was the absolute wrong time to be having a fit of post traumatic stress, no matter what the cause. And how, since the usual cause was thinking about the events in Manhattan last year, which they had been doing quite often and he literally seemed fine. Not hiding it, but actually okay.

Steve blocked a punch and judo tossed Zemo away and into Viper. "Spider-Woman, we need air support! Thor is too preoccupied and the jet is dismantled."

_=Roger that, Cap. On my wa–=_

"I don't think so." Karla touched down about fifteen feet away from Steve and Jessica and drew her hands back. Zemo and Viper scrambled for cover just as she violently drew them together in a thunderous clap. The force generated sent the two Avengers flying and actually knocked Clint to his back.

Steve landed hard on his back, his head hitting the pavement hard. His vision blackened briefly before returning to normal.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a date with a hot thunder god."

Meanwhile, Thor ducked under an Abomination punch and landed an uppercut that lifted him off of his feet and into a building across the street. Thor was about to follow him when Scott jumped in his path. "Remove yourself from my path, Scott, unless you wish to –" He was abruptly cut off by a silver blur ramming into him and slamming him through several buildings and into the pavement a block away. "Odin's beard…?"

"Hey there," Karla said casually. "Heard that you're pretty strong. So am I. So, I suppose that means I'm supposed to fight you."

He eyed her carefully. She didn't appear to be much, but he knew better than to underestimate his opponent, especially women. "Yield now, Mistress of Evil, for I shall not hold back."

She smirked and drove her fist into his stomach. "Good; neither will I." Him smiling wasn't the reaction she was hoping for. "What are you smiling about?"

He grabbed her arm and loomed largely over her. "T'as been many scores since I have fought with a maiden with mine own strength. Do not disappoint." With that, he punch her in the face, sending her careening not through, but over the buildings and crashing back into the main battle.

To Karla, it was comparable to being hit with a tractor trailer. Swung by the Hulk. She groaned and picked herself up. "God, this is stupid," she muttered as he landed a few yards from her. Lightning jumped from his hammer and struck her flush in the chest. It sure wasn't regular lightning, since it hurt a hell of a lot worse.

Thor was about to go after her when Abomination suddenly landed in front of him and threw a punch. Ducking, he tag his leg with Mjolnir as it thrust forward to trip him up. The monster flipped head over heels, but as he did, caught Thor flush with an athletic punch. The demigod grunted and tumbled over a hundred feet to a stop.

"Behind you, Jess," Natasha yelled. Too late. Viper bit down on Jessica's neck like, well, a viper. Hollowed out fangs pumped a few milliliters of venom into her bloodstream, though they both knew it wasn't going to have an effect.

Jessica grunted and flipped her onto her back and tried to punch her in the throat, but she rolled away and swept her legs out from under her. She landed with a thud and grunted when kicked in the kidney. She received two more kicks before she rolled to her feet. "Bitch," she spat bitterly.

"That's not the best you have, I hope," Viper taunted with a laugh.

"No, mum. This is!" A pair of venom blasts fired forward and hit her in the leg and arm. She swiped feebly with her claws, but her good arm was caught and twisted violently until her shoulder popped out.

Hurting Ophelia was the highlight of Jessica's life, by far. Every whipping, every slap, every kiss and motherly "display of affection" was brought to the forefront and repaid with interest. Her gold gloves were stained red with blood; some of it was hers, the rest was Viper's. They were both bloody messes up to that point in their grudge match.

Jessica huffed and slammed Viper to the ground, hard. "How does it feel to be the bitch, mum? How does it feel to be the bottom for once?" She picked her leg up and stamped down on her knee. Viper yelled out and tried to kick her away, but she grabbed her other leg.

"Wait, don't!" she yelled futilely before Jessica punted her in the one place no one, man or woman, wanted to be kicked. Viper screamed out a long string of Hungarian curses while clutching her groin.

"How did that feel, mum? Did that hurt?!" She punted her again and swore she felt something break. The amount of animosity she felt toward this woman was being made clearly evident by her absolute willingness to physically mutilate her.

"Now, now, my dear. Let's not be rude to our mother," Jessica heard Zemo from behind her, but couldn't react before his vibranium sword sliced through the ACL and MCL tendons in her left knee. Her left leg gave out at the knee, followed by a flood of immense pain that felt like she was one fire. She screamed and fell to the ground while clutched her injured leg. "Hard to walk without a knee, ja?" His sword sliced through her right Achilles tendon for good measure.

"ZEMOOOOO!" Clint roared while firing a barrage of arrows. The man dashed to his left and dove behind a car that had seen better days just as they pelted the ground behind him.

Once the final arrow landed just over his head, he popped back up, brandishing his handgun and opened fire. Clint dove behind cover in time, but was tagged in the ankle. It felt like someone had lit a match and pressed it against his foot. "Agh… Steve, I'm hit and Jess is hurt bad. Don't think she can even walk."

Steve cursed again. Suddenly, a submachine gun blared and would have riddled him with bullets had he not lifted his shield in time. Yelena had stolen one of Natasha's guns and opened fire on him. He didn't have a gun this time, so he had no way of returning fire as he jumped behind a tall pile of rubble.

This was going downhill, fast.

Yelena spent the magazine and frantically looked for another. Natasha took that chance to swoop in and, using her zipline from her bracelet as a makeshift garrote, began to strangle her from behind. Yelena gurgled out a strangled cry and pulled at anything she could get her hands on to lessen her grip.

"Steve!" she cried. Steve heard and rose from his cover to quickly assess the situation. He flung his shield toward Yelena's ribcage with every ounce of his Super Soldier Serum enhanced strength.

Thinking fast, however, as a characteristic of both Black Widows, as was turning opponents against each other. As the shield headed for her, she grabbed Natasha's hands and leaned forward abruptly to flip her over her back. The shield, aimed for Yelena's ribs, hit Natasha in the spine with a sickening crack.

She fell in a heap.

"No, NATASHA!"

Yelena fell back, coughing furiously and clutching her throat. A thin line had been dug deep, but didn't do any serious damage.

Steve surged forward and knelt down beside the redhead. He didn't touch her, in case her neck was broken. His heart thumped heavily in his chest as he gingerly touched her hand.

"Ow," she uttered softly. She could still feel, so she wasn't quadriplegic. "That hurt."

"Natasha… God, can you move your foot?" _Please, God, let her move her foot._

She grunted softly with effort, and he noticed it move ever so slightly. "That's the best I can do."

"That's just fine. I'm so sorry." He stroked her hair lightly and turned her over onto her back.

"Shit happens, but I'm tapped out. Can barely move, let alone fight."

Yelena heard this and silently drew her gun. Now was the perfect chance to finish Romanoff off once and for all! She smiled evilly and rose to her knees. "Poproshchaytes, Natalia.*" As she pulled the trigger to shoot, and arrow landed inside the muzzle. Pathway blocked, the gun exploded in the hand. She jerked back and cursed.

Another arrow embedded itself into her shoulder and sent several thousand volts of electricity into her body. She slumped over, her body involuntarily jerking every so often. "That was for Tasha, bitch."

A pair of gunshots rang out, but Clint had already been hit with the pair of bullets that slightly proceeded them. Zemo watched him fall to the ground, blood dripping out of his mouth from the two shots to the chest. "And that was for wielding a bow unironically."

Steve's felt his heart skip a beat when Clint was shot. They all had Kevlar laced into their suits, but from the way he was bleeding from the mouth, the rounds must have pierced through. "You bastard," he growled at Zemo. He grabbed his shield and charged after him.

Zemo took aim and fired, but Steve's shield was ready to block the bullet. He reached him and knocked the gun out of his hand before rocking him with a devastating two punch combination. He grabbed him and drove his knee into his sternum repeatedly.

All of his anger and frustration of the last almost two weeks erupted like a volcano. It took all of his strength not to fully succumb to his baser instincts and started really laying into him; he was liable to kill the man if he let go for an instant.

Punches, knees and shields strikes were peppered into Zemo in rapid succession, at such an interval that he couldn't even mount any sort of counterattack.

"Steve!"

He took his off of him for a brief moment and saw Jessica pointing at him, the end of her finger glowing green. He smirked and raised his shield. A beam of bio-electricity of the highest potency she could muster shot out of her finger and deflected off of his shield.

Purely out of instinct and self-preservation, Zemo raised his sword in time to deflect the beam, that would have killed him five times over, causing it to pierce through Steve's knee.

"No!"

Steve let out a pained howl and hopped on one leg to prevent any pressure from being placed on his injured knee. Injury or not, he still had his shield, so he was going to keep fighting until he couldn't fight anymore. He swung, and it was easily ducked under. Zemo's sword flashed upward and stabbed into Steve's shield arm, at the elbow.

He howled again and dropped his shield.

"Tsk. Captain, I believe you dropped something fairly important," he said as he stabbed Steve in the other arm. He watched Steve squirm and struggle to climb to his feet. "I warned you, Captain. I told you to drop your arms two days ago and save us all this trouble. You refused. Now look. Four of your members are injured and incapable of fighting. And while you have managed to take down a few of mine, our strongest members are still untouched."

Steve knew he was right, but what else was he supposed to do? He couldn't just give up, not when they still had a chance to end it. The fight was still winnable, even with half his team unable to fight. Thor was still up, and the Hulk had yet to make an appearance. Steve just knew that he was going to show up at any moment. He had to.

He looked up and saw Mandarin touching down, with an unmoving Iron Man floating above him. He remembered Clint saying that he was suddenly having an episode. "What have you done to him?!"

Gene grinned and placed the armor down in front of him. It stood rigid and unmoving, like one of those medieval knight armors he'd seen in haunted houses on Halloween. "He's in an illusion. Poor guy thinks he's in space again." One of his rings glowed again, and with a fluid flick of his wrist, his armor tore itself off of him. A wide-eyed, panicked Tony fell face first on the ground.

Steve's acute hearing caught his ragged, irregular breathing. "Jesus."

"Can't help you. Not today, at least."

Steve looked at Gene from Tony and grimaced. He knew that there was nothing he could do against either of them with his arms lying numbly at his sides. He couldn't walk. He couldn't even lift his shield to protect himself from the beam Gene fired at him. It hit him in the chest like a Mac truck, and knocked him flat on his back.

At least a few ribs were cracked on impact. He didn't black out immediately, but he was close. The last he saw was Zemo standing over him, the heel of his boot speedily lowering toward his face.

Thor swatted Karla away and flipped Abomination onto his back after they attempted to dogpile him to the ground. He looked for his team and saw all of them on the ground, unconscious or just not moving. "No…"

His team had fallen; he, to his knowledge, was the last one standing. That was just fine, as he had been in that position before. But, he had never faced off against beings with strength such as these. Usually, he was fighting giants, trolls, fire demons and the like; beings he was vastly stronger than. Any stronger and his father would step in.

He seriously doubted Odin was going to show up.

"And then there was one," Gene remarked. He and Zemo faced Thor, while Scott and Abomination flanked him and Karla brought up the rear. Viper struggled to her feet and Yelena laid motionless on the ground near Natasha. He was surrounded.

He could easily kill Gene and Zemo; they were mere humans. The others to his right, left and behind were more troublesome. He wished to spare Scott for the sake of his daughter, and the other two were comparable in strength, and Karla was faster.

And he did not even consider Quicksilver and Amora, who were likely watching from a distance.

His odds were not great, but there was a chance.

"You'd do well to surrender, Prince of Asgard. We've won," Baron Zemo stated.

"Nay thee I say. So long as one stands before you in defiance, you have not won the day. I shall die before I lay down my arms."

Zemo sighed, and sheathed his sword and holstered his gun. "You heroes are all the same. Well, make him reconsider."

Before he could mount his guard, Karla blasted him with a powerful energy ball. His back stung with pain but he remained standing.

He swung Mjolnir, which she ducked and followed with an uppercut which knocked him off his feet. Before he got too high, she grabbed his leg swung him directly into the path of Abomination's fist, which jettisoned him through a pair of buildings.

Thor exploded out of the rubble and held his hammer the heavens. Lightning crashed onto the hammer head and jumped into Karla, who couldn't dodge in time. She fell to the ground with a thud. Gene circled around him and fired another impact beam. Thor barely registered it before it hit him square in the back. Again, he grunted in pain, but stood tall. "You fools will have to try harder than that!"

Gene just shrugged and took aim again. This time, the red hot beam of Incandescense, as hot as a miniature heart of a star can be, scorched the air as it was fired. Thor barely managed to dodge, but it still clipped him in the shoulder. "Gah!" Just as before, he grunted, but still stood tall, even as his arm was growing numb in the shoulder.

Powerful winds, on par with an F4 tornado, tore into Gene and sent him spiraling into the ground below. The smell of burning flesh entered his nostrils, making his slightly ill. Mostly from knowing that he was the one cooking.

He spun his hammer overhead, giving it a golden glow. He fired a gold beam at an oncoming Karla, but faltered as it went right through her, and not in the way he hoped. She smirked and allowed his hammer strike to pass right through as well. "What chicanery is this?" he demanded.

"Not a trick, it's science. I shift my molecules, and now you can't hit me," she replied smugly.

He knew what molecules were, thanks to the lessons Bruce and Tony had given him, but he was unaware that this was even possible.

"Still confused," she continued after a few more failed attempts to hit her, "Observe." She held her hand out and slipped it inside Thor's abdomen. He gasped and tried to pull back, but she had already solidified.

Strangely enough, this wasn't the first time he had had a hand inside his stomach. It still felt utterly uncomfortable.

He felt a build up of energy. An energy bolt ignited inside him, badly damaging his internal organs. He violently ejected a mouthful of blood that, luckily for her, missed her head.

"How's that for a crash course in intangibility?" she taunted.

She was about to phase out of him when Abomination came flying up and collided with the blood vomiting demigod. The collision caused her hand to forcefully tear out of his midsection, causing blood and bits of singed entrails to splash on her. "Ew." She shuddered and watched them crash through buildings and slam into the ground.

Thor was weakened from the blast and collision, but was far from surrendering. Abomination through a punch that connected with the his jaw, rocking him slightly and leaving him open to Karla's kick to the other side of his head. He fell to one knee, breathing heavily. Blood from his wound dripped on to the ground, gathering together into a small pool.

"Ready to go to sleep?" the monster asked with an evil grin.

"N–nay," he responded shakily. His hammer slammed into the ground, which created a shockwave that tore through and uprooted the surrounding block and sent the two villains flying. "Odin help me," he muttered.

"Sorry, dear old dad can't save you from us," Gene said. He blasted Thor again with the heat beam. It tore through his shoulder, sending the demigod to his knees. He reached for his hammer, which he dropped when hit, but another beam punched through his hand. "Have to admit, you're tough." He stopped to pull out a handkerchief and wipe the blood from the gash on his forehead.

"If you feel that I will fall before evil such as yourselves, you are all sadly mistaken." He stood, wobbly, and wielded his hammer with his good hand. He would wield it with his feet if necessary. No matter what it took, he wasn't surrendering.

"Not the first time today I've heard that. Doesn't make it any less of a logical fallacy." With that, Gene fired a pair of beams, one the heat beam and the other a frigidly cold beam from the same ring as his impact beam. Thor lifted his hammer in time to block and absorb the energy out of them. In doing this, he wasn't prepared for Karla's own energy beam. It hit him square in the back. He yelled out and fell to his knees.

The beam didn't relent for another seconds. His cape had been burned away and his armor was singing and melted. He breathed out heavily and struggled to gather his strength to even stand.

The final straw was delivered by Scott of all people, who smashed his giant fist into him, and drove him through the ground and into the underground sewer system. He pulled his fist out and carried Thor's unconscious body carefully, and carefully placed him the feet of Zemo.

Mjolnir fell from his limp hand and clanged heavily on the ground.

"And with that, the Avengers have been defeated," he announced with a small hint of satisfaction. A rifle cocking in the distance interrupted him from saying more.

Carol, the only one still standing, trained her sights in him. "This isn't over yet!"

"Oh yes, my dear, it very much is. For I highly doubt you will get very far with that."

Karla, Gene and Abomination all landed within fifteen yards of her. "Christ, you again? I'm getting real sick and tired of you."

"Just… just come along quietly and no one gets hurt," she said, though it sounded more like a question than anything else.

"You threaten me with the conviction of a one year old. Certainly even you are smart enough to realize that if Thor could not defeat us, you certainly can't."

"I… I'm can't give up. Not when the others gave their all for what's fight." The rifle she was carrying began to shake as noticeably as her hands were. Against four metahumans, she stood no chance. But Steve had fought until he couldn't anymore; same with Thor. She didn't want to let them down.

She didn't have a choice in the matter. Before she could fire a shot, Gene chopped her in the neck. She fell to the ground, dropping the rifle and landing face first, out cold after the strike. "Well, now. Bind them and gather them up. We have a show to prepare for."

* * *

_**A/N:**__ This is it! The story ends next chapter! Hope you all enjoyed the ride as much as I did. I'll go ahead and thank everyone who read, followed, faved and reviewed the story. I can't tell you how encouraging it was to see that people really enjoyed reading this. Thanks so much, guys :)_

_**Translation:**_

_*Say goodbye, Natalia._


	24. …But With a Bang

_**A/N:**__**MAJOR**__ death upcoming. __Please forgive me. _

_Disclaimer: I don't own these characters._

…_**But With a Bang.**_

**Hydra Outpost – Nunavut, Canada **

Steve's eyes fluttered open and were painfully assaulted by the bright white lights that could only be found in a medical facility. For a brief moment, he hoped that SHIELD had arrived while he was unconscious and helped turn the tide of the battle in their favor.

The giant Hydra insignia staring him in the face killed that hope with resounding force. _Dammit_.

His head was killing him. His arms were killing him. His entire leg was killing him. Pretty much everything was attempting to end his life through overflooding his pain receptors. He sighed and turned his head. On seven tables to either side of him, the other Avengers laid unconscious. He could see that they were sporting white bandages on their various injuries.

How nice; Zemo had his cronies tend to their wounds. At least they were complete total monsters.

The only ones that weren't were Carol and, "Tony?" The man's eyes were wide open and moving back and forth rapidly. His mouth was moving just as quickly, but he wasn't saying anything. He looked traumatized. Steve didn't know what happened to him in that illusion that Gene trapped him in, but whatever it was affected him way worse than any physical injury could.

Steve wished that he was physically cut up like the rest of them were. The battle couldn't have gone worse. They had taken out a grand total of two Masters of Evil; well, one and the other was just briefly incapacitated. Zemo had collected together a powerful group of metahumans, he had to admit.

They were supposed to be Earth's Mightiest Heroes, but they were upended in the worst way possible. And with them in captivity in the Hydra base, it could only get worse.

He turned his head and assessed his team's injuries. Next to him to his right was Thor who, after Tony, had it the worst. There was heavy bandaging around his midsection and on his hand, plus several smaller ones covering what were probably various cuts and nicks he suffered.

Jessica was next to him. Both if her legs were wrapped in bandages; one at the knee and the other at the ankle; along with her back. Plus, her face was badly bruised.

Next was Natasha, who only had her thigh wrapped. But he knew that while she wasn't paralyzed, she wouldn't be walking for at least a little while.

Clint was last, and was wrapped mostly on his chest. He was shocked that they didn't at least target his hands or eyes, but perhaps that was an oversight.

To his left, next to Tony was Wanda. Again, like before, she had bandages along her back and leg, along with more bruises on her face. It made his blood boil even more than the first time. He was there, and still couldn't prevent it from happening! "I'm sorry, Wanda."

At the far left was Carol. Her shoulder was bandaged and she had an ice pack around her neck. He frowned. Again, something else he should have prevented. She should have never been there in the first place. All that came from it was her being hurt not once but twice. It may have not have been his idea, but as team leader, he was responsible for ensuring her safety. And he failed, twice.

He failed a lot. At pretty much every turn. Zemo had –

"Why are you sorry, Steve?"

Steve jumped as the unexpected answer jolted him from his thoughts. "Uh, what?" He turned and saw Wanda sitting up in her bed. Her eyes were closed, but he noticed a soft red glow leaking out from under her eyelids.

"You heard me."

He faltered for a moment before responding. "You were hurt. It's my faul–"

"Oi, Steve. How is this your fau–"

"Wanda, I'm the team leader. You're all my responsibility. When any one of you is hurt, I feel like it's my fault. I should have been more prepared for the battle. We knew it was a trap, and yet, we got our asses kicked."

She pursed her lips and sighed. "And yet, you felt the need to apologize only to me."

"I…" Thankfully her eyes were closed, or she'd see him blushing. It was probably for the best; she sounded like she was trying to take offense. "I…" What could he say. The truth? That he hated seeing her pretty face bruised and beat up and watching her lay in a hospital bed? That he may have been in love with her? He wasn't about to incriminate himself in front of everyone, even if they were the only two awake.

"That's what I thought."

"Wait, what you thought?"

"Yes. You think I'm some dainty little thing that constantly needs protection. Let me tell you something, Steve Rogers, just because my brother has a neurotic obsession with making sure I don't so much as stub my toe doesn't give you any right to coddle me. I'm an Avenger, I get injured; I deal with it, you need to as well."

Steve let out a shaky sigh. Telling the truth and possible being ridiculed by the others was a much more desired reaction than that. "Wanda, I didn't… I didn't mean it like that."

"How else could you have possibly meant it?"

"Yeah, Steve, how else could you have meant it?!" He turned saw Clint staring at him, sporting an 'appalled' look. He gave the man a withering look, to which he only smirked.

"I think you owe me an apology as well, Capsicle," Tony said so half-heartedly that Steve nearly didn't realize that it was him.

Steve frowned. He'd noticed that when his mask failed, it was usually either when he was alone with Pepper, or when he was in a sad, pathetic state. This qualified as the latter. "Are you alright, Tony?"

The man didn't answer for a long while. The only good thing about that is that it diverted attention from him and onto Tony. "I'm fine," he finally said.

"Bull," Clint challenged. "You were having a pretty severe post trauma episode, Tony. You can't be fine after that."

Steve saw him squirm and fidget uncomfortably in his bed. This wasn't the best time or place to be discussing this, but then again, he didn't know when they'd be getting out again. If they got out.

"Yeah, well, I'm just fine. So Steve, how 'bout that apology."

Steve quirked an eyebrow. "Steve?" It seemed that he didn't realize he even called him by his actual name for the first time in… ever.

"Hm? Oh, that was said ironically."

"Sure it was. Well, I am sorry, Tony. I had no idea that Gene could do that."

"Thank you. Unlike ungrateful Miss Spellman, I accept and take no offense." Wanda rolled her eyes and slid back down under her sheets. They enjoyed the few moments of silence before the door to their room opened. In walked in Amora, with Pietro close behind.

Wanda growled and bared her teeth at the Asgardian.

Ignoring her, she held her hand out toward them. A soft green glow pulsated around her outstretched hand. "Greetings, Avengers."

"What do you want, Amora," Steve demanded warily. He was disgusted with how attractive she was. Women as evil and black-hearted as her should be as ugly as her personality. He scowled and shook his head at her disgustingly pretty, smug smirk.

"I am merely here to help you, Steven. Behold." Her hand flashed. Steve, and the others, felt a warm sensation flow from their toes, up to their heads. Immediately, he felt the pain in his knee, head and arms fade away.

He breathed out softly. "Why," he inquired as he tore off his bandages. He thankfully was still wearing his pants when he ripped the sheets away and hopped off the bed.

"Amora," Thor said after waking up, "explain your true intentions. What further business do you have with us?"

She sighed amusedly. "I do believe a thank you is in order. Or has your stay on this mudball erased your manners?"

"Thanks so much," Clint said sarcastically. "Now answer his question."

"Fine. Pietro wanted to see his homely oaf of a sister, and I wished to attempt to convince Thor once more to join our side. You all did lose in a most amusing manner. Amusing for me, that is." She sat cross-leggedly on Steve's bed and smiled sweetly at Thor. "Well, will you finally see reason, my love?"

He stood and loomed over her "Nay. To join your cadre of villainy would be to abandon everything and everyone I know and hold dear. I cannot and will not betray my friends… my Midgardian family for you. I am sorry."

She scoffed and stood up. "You are forever a fool, Thor Odinsson. You will soon regret this. I swear you will." With that, she stormed out of the room.

"Gee, someone doesn't take rejection well," Clint quipped after her.

Thor watched her leave and frowned while he and the others dressed. His eyes casted over to Pietro, who was standing casually at the foot his twin's bed. He also eyed the colorful tunic that he was wearing.

"A gift from Amora," he answered as if reading his mind.

"Hum, I wonder what the good little slave did to receive that?"

Pietro watched his sister stand and stare him down with an amused smile. "Is that a note of jealously I detect, sister, that you're not the one my devotion belongs to any longer." He snorted out a laugh and gently traced the outline of her jaw.

Steve felt a little uncomfortable. They had a close, almost intimately so, relationship, but after hearing those jokes about them… He did notice the anger subside and vanish from her expression, and replaced with a longing one.

"Why are you really here," she queried after slapping his hand away.

If he was surprised by the action, he didn't show it. "Fine. I'm here to collect you before the curtains go up." In an instant, Wanda found her hands confined in a pair of metal handcuffs with a matching collar. A blue beam connected the cuffs with the collar. "Zemo wants you all ready before it gets too late." Steve and the others found themselves in similar entrapments before they even knew how to react to his statement.

"The hell are you talking about? What curtain," Natasha demanded. Steve barely caught the agitation and unease in her voice.

Pietro just winked and threw the tunic into a chair. "Follow me and you'll find out, Red. Oh, and don't bother trying your powers; those cuffs your sporting have a nullifying field that block metahuman abilities. Yeah, that includes you, Fabio."

Steve sighed and led the Avengers out the door. It was worse than a walk of shame, being led in handcuffs and collars down the hall toward whenever they were going. Presumably to Zemo. The Hydra agents spared no opportunity in letting them know how they felt about them. Their insults weren't any worse than what he had heard on the extreme political talk shows whenever the Avengers came up, sadly enough.

They mocked, jeered, and insulted them each in turn as they walked down each new corridor.

It took all of his strength not to lash out and tear someone's head off. For about as much good as that would do. He wasn't going to let these asshats get to him. "Don't let them get to you. They're just words," he said calmly, but without bothering to hide the anger that laced his words.

"Hey Barton, bet ya can't wait to see Barney again!"

Clint didn't have near the restraint Steve had at that point. "You son of a bitch!" he bellowed while lunging at the laughing Hydra agent. The handcuffs restricted his movement, but he still managed to break his nose with a crude double-fisted smash. Natasha managed to grab him and pull him back before he did any more. "Talk about him again, you horse fucking, shit eating, dick blowing fuckwad! I dare you! I double dog dare you, mother fucker!"

"Clint, that's enough. Let it go."

He ripped his arm from her grip and marched on. That reaction didn't surprise Steve. He knew that Clint's brother, Barney had abandoned him at the circus where they lived after running away from home. The man died a few years ago and Clint said he blamed himself for not being there for him. Maybe it was misplaced guilt or belated anger, but he never reacted well when that subject came up.

More comments about Peggy flew at him one after another, but he never lashed out. It would be doing her memory a disservice if he allowed them to get to him through her.

He glanced around before walking inside the meeting room Pietro had led them to and caught sight of Janet standing amongst the jeering agents. Their eyes met. She looked scared, for both him and herself. He turned away. He had failed her, as well. He wanted to free her, but now he might never get the chance.

After the last one, Carol, walked inside, the doors slid shut, thankfully shutting out the hateful, hurtful words. The room wasn't big, only maybe fifty by fifty, and half it was taken up by the assembled Masters of Evil.

"Ah, Captain, so nice of you and your friends to join us," Zemo greeted with mock joviality. "I hope your ready for your coup de grace."

Steve grimaced and considered him for a long while. "I hope you don't think you've won yet."

Zemo snorted and then fell into full out laughter. His shoulders actually shook from the mirth of his amusement. "What? What could you possibly have up your sleeves now that won't be instantly countered and quashed?"

Steve just smirked. "Robert Bruce Banner."

"Banner? Who knows where he is. For all you know, we may have already taken care of him."

"I doubt that. We would have heard otherwise. You may have us down now, but let me tell you a little secret; we good guys have the knack of pulling out impossible victories at the last second."

"Yeah! Bruce will show up and go all jolly green on your arses!"

"And don't forget about SHIELD," Natasha added. "You haven't taken them into account and they have their own metahumans on payroll."

Zemo dismissed everything about Bruce and waved a dismissive hand toward Natasha. "SHIELD is of no concern to me. They will also be taken care of shortly." With that, he motioned toward the guards stationed behind them. They stepped forward and corralled the Avengers into the center of the room. "We'll be leaving for New York City within a few minutes. Any last words, either for us or each other?"

"Gene, wearing sunglasses at night makes you look like a douche."

"Thank you, Tony. I've learned from the master himself."

Carol, who had been quiet since losing consciousness in Munich, stared Karla down like she was literally about to punch her in the face. "I don't like you," she announced.

"I don't like you, either," she concurred. At least they agreed on something, much to Steve's confusion. Everyone else remained silent, either because they had nothing to say, or secrets they were unwilling divulge in such an inspired setting.

For him, it was the latter. He could have told Wanda and Carol how he felt about them. He was attracted to the both of them, and found himself developing feelings for the both of them. He could have told them that in so many words, but why? He could just tell them later when they had a little privacy. Preferably in a one on one setting.

"Well, Captain? Anything to say?"

Steve considered him again. "I'll make you eat your words. And my fist. I promise."

He could tell he was smiling behind his mask before he turned and motioned toward Amora. "Well, we'll see if you feel the same way soon enough." He nodded. She raised her hand, and a blinding white light flashed. Steve hissed from surprise and clamped his eyes shut. A feeling of heavy vertigo overtook him as the light became so bright that it leaked through his airtight eyelids.

* * *

**Times Square, New York City – 6:45 pm**

The sounds of traffic screeching a halt, along with the vertigo disappearing signaled that Wanda could open her eyes. They were, as promised, back in New York; Times Square to be exact. Hydra agents crowded the streets, forcing traffic to come to a complete halt.

A short gust of wind made her look upward, where she saw Mandarin flying away. Where he could possibly have been going, she wasn't sure. She was sure that she was glad he was gone. One less to deal with made their chances of getting out of this substantially better.

They were still fairly grim, but they were better.

She heard murmurs from the bystanders that were watching from the sidewalk. News footage from their battle in Munich replayed on the massive television monitors on the buildings around them. It was only just then that she bothered to think about the damage done to the city. Selfish, yes, but she was too preoccupied with trying not to die that she couldn't have been bothered with trying to preserve the buildings and streets. Besides, so long as lives weren't lost, everything lost could be rebuilt.

Several of those monitors switched to Times Square, most notably Zemo, and them in their bonds. She noticed how stoic and calm Steve looked. Forever their leader, he was likely already thinking of a plan of escape. She herself was thinking of things, most notably the chances of her bonds suddenly shorting out for a few seconds.

"Greetings, people of New York and the world," Zemo announced. Somehow, his voice manage to project itself over the entire area without a microphone. "My name is Baron Helmut Zemo, and these assembled before you who aren't the Avengers are the Masters of Evil. Led by myself, Moonstone, Madame Hydra, Abomination, Goliath, Amora the Enchantress, Black Widow, and the Mandarin engaged the Avengers in a titanic battle of wills for the last week and a half." He walked over to Pietro. "This here is Quicksilver. You likely recognize him as an Avenger; and you would be right. He was, up until Amora brainwashed him. He is now under our control.

"We have attained many victories over the Avengers. Not the least of which being in DC. You remember when the Hulk went on a 'rampage'? Of course, it was all over the news. I'm here telling you now that that was of our doing; more specifically, Amora's doing. She used her powers to coax the Hulk out of hiding and led him into the destruction of your beloved capital. Then, there was Iron Man and his terrorist attacks. Again, our doing. We hacked into his suit and took control of it. Everything you saw him do and heard him say was actually the Black Widow using him as a puppet. An iron puppet, if you'd like.

"Why did I confess all of this to you? Because shortly, none of it will matter. We waged war with your heroes, and we won handily at each and every turn. We stayed six, perhaps seven steps ahead of them. We made them look foolish. We made them and their benefactor, known as SHIELD, look inept and feeble."

* * *

Fury, who wasn't actually at the helicarrier, but Triskelion, watched Zemo with bated breath. He received a call from Hill not two minutes ago informing him that she, along with Coulson, Sharon Carter, Bobbi Morse, Sam Wilson, James Barnes and a few others were in route to New York to free the Avengers.

He felt brief discomfort at the thought of his right hand not being aboard the helicarrier to coordinate things, but it was for the best.

It actually was for the best.

Gene Khan passed by the Quinjet carrying the SHIELD agents en route to save the Avengers first. His ring flashed and an impact beam erupted through on of the wings.

Sam Wilson, who was piloting, struggled to keep it in the air while they were still over the ocean. "Brace for impact!" he howled.

Gene watched the jet spiral into the ocean before heading for his real target. The SHIELD helicarrier. It was massive, and, for most, would be tough to tackle alone. Not for him.

While watching the pilots scramble to their jets, his right thumb ring glowed dark green. A massive beam of massive destructive capabilities shot out of the ring and exploded through the carrier. He masterfully guided it down the middle, and it left absolutely nothing in its wake. It cut the hovering base clean in half within seconds.

Gene smirked and watched it separate, and then relatively quickly fall to the ground below. He was ordered to leave it be, but he had a different idea. It was too big for him to carry all of it, so he just grabbed one half using his ring's magnetic attraction and towed it behind him as he headed back to the city.

* * *

"We have learned from past would be conquerors' mistakes," Zemo continued. "They sought to defeat the Avengers through means that were just destined to fail. To defeat these gods among men, one must have what have; power, numbers, leadership. We have that, and that is why we won. But of course, it wasn't just us. You all helped as well.

"You all have worshipped the very ground these people walk on. You elevated them to a status so lofty that the inevitable fall would be one that they couldn't possibly recover from. Because that is what you do. You build up your gods of light as these infallible beings, and then you tear them down.

"Tony Stark, Quicksilver, the Hulk, the three most popular of the Avengers, and you betrayed them. Because we made you. We forced them into a corner that they couldn't escape from. We made it seem as though they had turned their backs on you, when in actuality, it is you who turn your backs on them.

"Heroes fall everyday. These here just fell well before their time."

Wanda was sickened by the level that Zemo had taken this. His plan was complex, yet so simple that there was no way that they could have countered it. Not when half of the team was out of commission.

Help was going to be coming soon, she reckoned. SHIELD had to have seen this and likely already sent forces to free them. Once that happened, they were going to have another fight. Wanda closed her eyes and began to gather what magical energies she had left. As she did so, her cuffs shorted out, just as planned.

"We have turned you against your heroes. You aided in the fall of your heroes." He looked up and saw Gene incoming.

"You bastard!" Jessica shouted. "You talk tough shite when we're in chains, but let's see what you have to say when we're free."

Before he could respond, Gene touched down. "SHIELD had sent a Quinjet full of agents, presumably to face us." He didn't miss the smug grin Jessica flashed. "I shot it down. Eh, I'm pretty sure they're all dead." He smirked and turned to look at Stark Tower, which was standing majestically in the distance. "We should do something about that, yeah?" With that, he jerked his arm back.

Nothing happened at first. Then, a loud metallic groan echoed through the city. Tony looked up toward where the noise came from and couldn't stop his mouth from falling open. The helicarrier, the front half of it, anyway, hurtled through the air like a metal asteroid.

"No, no, no… N-NO!" Tony shouted, but there was nothing he could do. The front half of the helicarrier crashed into Stark Tower with devastating force. The impact shook the ground. It cut through the building like a hot knife. Terrified civilians screamed and ran for safety.

Thick plumes of smoke billowed skyward, choking out what sunlight was still visible after the clouds of debris filled the streets. Large specks of fire flicked dangerously from within.

Wanda watched it lean dangerous to one side before breaking apart. Her heart stopped and her breath caught up in her throat. Terror and disbelief gripped her. All those people aboard the helicarrier and in the Tower, dead. And there was nothing she or anyone else could do about it.

The upper half of the tower came toppling down to the streets below, and crumbled the pavement with thunderous resonance. The carrier scrapped along the ground, tearing up the pavement before colliding with another building and finally coming to a stop.

There wasn't anything left of Tony's masterpiece, other than tons of debris and a massive dust cloud. Clint's legs gave out from the stress and he fell to his knees. Natasha followed him, not even bothering to hide her shaky breathing. One by one, each Avenger collapsed to their knees. Their home wad gone. As far as they knew, Fury, Coulson and everyone important at SHIELD was dead.

Zemo chuckled audibly. "See America, see how your Sentinel of Liberty has fallen to his knees before his master! See people of the planet Earth, see how your guardians are bowing before their betters! You see, this," he pointed to the smoking, burning wreckage, "is symbolic. The light guiding you through the darkness has been snuffed out. The invisible shield guarding you from evil has been broken."

Wanda could feel her heart beating nearly a million miles a second. It was so hard to focus on something this complex, but she had to. She wished someone could take her place. They had to get out of there, and now. The buildup of magical energy leaked out of her eyes in the form of a dull red glow. She uttered the arcane chant Agatha taught her for a teleportation spell.

A red light flashed throughout the block.

Nothing happened. They were still in bound in Times Square and still kneeling before the Masters of Evil.

"No!" she exclaimed defeatedly.

Amora fleered at her failure. "I would not attempt that again if I were you."

Zemo waited a little while longer to ensure that nothing was going to happen before continuing. "That was a valiant effort, Scarlet Witch. But I am afraid that nothing can save you."

"HULK SMASH!"

Everyone whipped their heads around. Weapons were drawn and powers flared. Wanda felt a new feeling a hope and renewed strength at the famous cry. At last, the one wildcard had arrived. He surely would make them, especially Amora, pay for what they did to him and his friends.

They all looked for the green giant, but he was nowhere to be found. Wanda frowned in confusion. "Where is he?" Then, the music from the new Hulk cartoon show sounded in what had to be the most unfortunately timed advertisement in the history of television.

"What did I tell you, Rogers?" Zemo taunted with an amused ring in his voice. She noticed the slight quiver in his voice, as well. "You depended on something out a fairy tale; the long lost hero making a sudden, last minute appearance to save the day. Let me assure you that this is real life, not a fairy tale."

Steve sagged his shoulders and gained a despondent expression. "God dammit."

Zemo apparently to smile down at him and turned back to the collection of civilians. "And these, your protectors. They placed their hopes on another to save them. You built them up to be invincible. And they were, except when they needed to be."

A hush fell across the assembled crowd.

He drew his handgun and walked over to Tony. He pressed the muzzle against his temple. The genius billionaire just looked up at him, pure hatred and regret fighting for dominance in his brown eyes. "You did say you wanted his execution to be televised live."

Wanda clamped her eyes shut. The gun shot was deafening, but not in that sense. Tony Stark was dead. The single most polarizing figure of their generation had just been murdered, execution style, on live television before the eyes of millions, maybe billions.

Her eyes opened a hair and all she saw was blood. Steve's face told the tale. The soldier had seen many die within inches of him, but he looked devastated. He and Tony were close, despite their differences.

Zemo stepped in in front of Steve and pressed the hot muzzle against his forehead. "Be certain to say hello to my father for me," he requested as he pulled the trigger, "in Hell."

She felt herself die a little when Steve massive, but gently frame fell back onto the ground. Crimson blood ran down the side of his face. His blue eyes bored deeply into hers and she watched the life in them fade away. She would never forget the look.

Clint was next. He had nothing to say to Zemo, but instead to his head to the right and said to either Natasha or Jessica (she wasn't sure which), "I love you." An audible, heart breaking shudder escape Natasha, but it was too late. Clint was dead before either one could answer.

"Clint, you bastard." Jessica looked up from his body and beheld Zemo's gun her face. She didn't react, but flicked one last glance at the woman she called mother. She swore that, before the brief flash of pain and then darkness that overtook her, she saw a look of regret on her face. It was brief, but she saw it.

Yelena stepped in front of Zemo, who stepped back. She smiled. "At last, I am the Black Widow." Natasha said nothing, not even so much as a scoff before Yelena shot her. Even in death, she betrayed no emotions.

"Well, Ms. Danvers, seems that you picked the wrong time for a career change." The way he was treating their deaths as an opportunity for quips and jokes was disgusting. Wanda couldn't bear to watch, and hear the gunshots and their bodies fall limply to the ground; she didn't need lame jokes to make it worse.

"Your puny weapon will not work against me, villain," she heard Thor say in what was certainly the softest voice she had heard from the bombastic demigod.

"Remember my science lesson," Karla replied. She stuck her intangible hand inside his head and solidified it. Wanda heard his hurried breathing slow, and then eventually stop. His heavy body fell with a soft thud.

Who was next? How many more deaths would she have to listen to?

The muzzle of a gun being pressed against her own forehead answered that question definitively. Her eyes opened and beheld that her own brother was holding the gun. His face carried no emotion, not even the magically induced glee he displayed earlier during their fight.

Her eyes welled up and loosed streams of tears down her cheeks. Flashbacks of their childhood flashed through her memory, as if remembering the love and devotion they shared for one another would somehow lessen the impact of being killed by her own flesh and blood. The only flesh and blood she had left.

"Goodbye, Wanda."

She closed her eyes and sobbed softly. Any hopes of her ever seeing him in his right mind again were finally dashed to pieces. _Goodbye, Pietro._

_This was how the world ended,_

_Not with a whimper,_

_But with a_

_**BANG**_

–_END–_

* * *

_**A/N:**__ I am so sorry if you all are disappointed. Well, not that sorry, since there will be a sequel coming soon. But yeah, hope you all enjoyed it and will stick with me for the next part, _Requiem of Heroes_. Until then, *runs and hides*_


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